The blockchain Gold Bar Integrity Initiative will help buyers “feel comfortable knowing where the gold is coming from.”
The Gold Bar Integrity Program (GBI) of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and the World Gold Council (WGC), based on blockchain technology, will boost investor confidence in the gold industry. Joe Cavatoni, the WGC’s head of global sales and regional CEO, said it in an interview with Kitco NEWS.
In the interview, Joe described how gold is used in the economy and industry. For example, gold is needed to manufacture Apple products. It is also used in cancer treatment, particularly in plasmonic photothermal therapy with gold nanoparticles. Against this background, buyers need to be sure of the quality of gold supplied, which is why the LBMA’s CEO Ruth Crowell has previously stated that the international trade in wholesale, “physical gold depends on confidence.”
The Gold Bar Integrity Program allows control over all phases of the gold “life cycle,” particularly the origin, production cycle, all phases of logistics, and secondary market circulation. Blockchain application helps standardize monitoring procedures, eliminate data manipulation and provide a continuous process of gold bar integrity control.
The practical implementation of the GBI is carried out by two platforms:
- Peer Ledger’s MIMOSI Connect. The platform specializes in using blockchain technology to address environmental, social, and governance issues in global supply chains. Specifically, the platform monitors logistics and production processes, including the recording in a distributed ledger of transactions, documents, and metrics across the production and supply chain.
- Bullion Integrity Ledger by aXedras. The platform operates on a decentralized peer-to-peer network that allows all participants to exchange information according to a single data standard and record the results of all transactions consistently and verifiably. The platform specializes specifically in tracking the full “life cycle” of precious metals.
According to Joe Cavatoni, blockchain will eliminate the mistrust that is a barrier to wider gold adoption. This, in turn, will allow the industry to develop by making it more transparent within existing laws. The implementation of the Gold Bar Integrity Program (GBI) was first announced in March 2022. This initiative was then supported by more than ten major international gold mining companies. Experts say blockchain technology can transform other spheres, such as the commercial real estate market.
