Gold Industry Uses Blockchain Technology For Supply Chain Management

Blockchain technology is also useful in gold supply chain management. (photo: twitter @GOLDCOUNCIL)

JAKARTA - Some of the gold industry's most prominent organizations have joined forces to launch a new “integrity program” using blockchain technology. It is used for supply chain management, a measure intended to help market participants verify the authenticity of their gold bullion.

The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and the World Gold Council (WGC) announced Monday, March 28, that they are collaborating to develop an "international system of gold bullion integrity, chain of custody and provenance" based on blockchain technology developed by companies aXedras and Peer Ledger. .

Our CEO David Tait and LBMA CEO Ruth Crowell today announced the launch of a new Gold Bar Integrity Programme. Together with @lbmaexecutive, we will develop and implement an international system of gold bar integrity, chain of custody and provenance: https://t.co/jcZ6V1wYLB pic.twitter.com/x7klqZ8WTL

— World Gold Council (@GOLDCOUNCIL) March 28, 2022

The ledger will be used to register and track gold bars at every stage of the production and distribution cycle, including mining, vaulting, and purchases by jewelry manufacturers.

The so-called Gold Bar Integrity Program is supported by organizations such as CME Group, Metalor, Barrick Gold, Brinks, Royal Canadian Mint, Newcrest Mining, Hummingbird Resources, Argos Heraeus SA, Asahi, Aura Minerals, Perth Mint and others.

Originally developed as a pilot, the program will eventually be promoted for use across the gold industry, the LBMA and WGC said.

Supply chain management is cited as one of the most promising use cases of blockchain technology. As Cointelegraph reports, more than half of the companies added to Forbes' 2021 Blockchain 50 companies list are actively using distributed ledger technology to solve their supply chain and logistics problems.

In April 2021, American defense contractor Lockheed Martin said it was using blockchain technology for supply chain management in Switzerland.

Issues such as illegal mining, laundered gold, counterfeit bullion and human rights abuses have made the gold industry particularly vulnerable to supply chain opacity. In 2020, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development released a report providing guidance on how gold producers can avoid contributing to “serious abuses” in mining and production processes.