Gold market to secure gold bar integrity with use of enterprise blockchain

The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and the World Gold Council (WGC) will jointly use enterprise blockchain to demonstrate that the gold is genuine and sustainably sourced.

Switzerland’s aXedras and Canada’s Peer Ledger will initially provide blockchain solutions for the integrity program, using the Corda and Hyperledger Fabric enterprise blockchains, respectively.

Permissioned blockchains make confidential data will only be available to those that have a right to see it.

Peer Ledger’s MIMOSI Connect solution has been used by Swiss gold refiner PAMP, and for other metals such as steel in a collaboration with Canada’s government. aXedras’ Bullion Integrity Ledger was used by SEBA Bank when it tokenized gold a year ago.

Ruth Crowell, the LBMA CEO, said that the initiative underlines the confidence that all participants in the market can have in the integrity and accountability of the gold they trade and buy.

LBMA first initiated work on its Gold Bar Integrity Programme in 2018.

Last year, Sentry published a report about the risk of buying gold in Dubai where the money funnels to armed groups that are responsible for atrocities in Africa. On top of that is the issue of child labor, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.