At the Sustainability & Responsible Sourcing Summit on March 28th, the LBMA (London Bullion Market Association), and the WGC (World Gold Council) announced they were launching a gold bar integrity program. Our very own aXedras was one of two companies chosen to see how their technology could deliver a global ecosystem for registering and tracking gold bars. And now, a major announcement today updating how the World Gold Council has placed a major stake in aXedras’ effort!

,aXedras is an independent Swiss IT solution provider whose main objective was to modernize the precious metals industry by taking it to the next level of digitalization. Using their DLT/blockchain-based Bullion Integrity Ledger ™ solution, they enable transparency in the history of origin and chain of custody of precious metals.

BFI’s very own Frank R. Suess was a co-founder of aXedras in 2017 and is the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Urs Röösli is the CEO of aXedras, member of the board, and has a long history working in the precious metals industry.

They will be joined by our very special guest, Mr. Bruno Ciscato, and sit on our panel for the upcoming Fireside Conversation webinar, ,“aXedras – Blockchain Beyond Crypto”, taking place on Wednesday, May 11th, 5pm Swiss/Central European time,.

Blockchain isn’t just about cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Understanding what aXedras offers and how they go about providing their services will help to show the big difference they will make in the precious metals industry, as well as show the other opportunities and industries that will be realized with blockchain technology.

To ,register, for the Fireside Conversation, go to ,www.bficapital.com/firesideconversations.

LBMA and WGC launch Gold Bar Integrity Program

London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and the World Gold Council (WGC) are collaborating to develop and implement an international system of gold bar integrity, chain of custody and provenance. Over time, this will help consumers, investors, and market participants to trust that their gold is genuine and has been responsibly and sustainably sourced.

To deliver this industry-wide and ground-breaking development for the market, LBMA and WGC have brought together representatives from the global gold supply chain to launch a pilot phase of the project.

This initial phase will see two distributed ledger companies (aXedras and Peer Ledger) demonstrate how their technology can best deliver a global ecosystem that will create an immutable record of a gold bar’s place of origin and chain of custody. This blockchain-backed ledger will register and track bars, capturing the provenance and full transaction history.

Over time, the plan is to encourage all major participants in the gold industry to adopt this technology, and add to the global ecosystem, so that all gold bars are registered and tracked across the entire supply journey from mine to vault, and ultimately to end consumers such as jewellery manufacturers. This will effectively digitise the global supply chain of gold bars.

The Gold Bar Integrity Programme supports greater industry alignment to ensure the future growth of the international gold market.

Ruth Crowell, Chief Executive Officer, LBMA commented:

“The international trade in wholesale, physical gold depends on confidence. The initiative announced today underlines the confidence that all participants in the market can have in the integrity and accountability of the gold they trade, and the gold they buy. This is a major advance in furthering transparency for the common good of the gold industry.”

David Tait, Chief Executive Officer, World Gold Council commented:

“This transformative project is the first step towards a more aligned gold industry, where we work together to ensure a more accessible and transparent market. Consumers and investors want to know their gold has been responsibly and sustainably produced and tracing the origin of gold bars will help enforce the highest standards across the entire supply chain. At the World Gold Council we are committed to addressing barriers to investment such as trust and provenance as this is key to unlocking increased demand for gold.”

Jin Chang, Managing Director and Global Head of Metals, CME Group commented:

“We welcome the introduction of the Gold Bar Integrity Programme, which will help further strengthen the integrity of the physical gold industry, as well as its investment and trading communities. We are committed to helping our clients navigate the evolution towards a more sustainable future, and these initiatives help provide more clarity to the industry and our clients around how their sustainability goals are being met.”

,>> Read more here.

,PRESS RELEASE/UPDATE (May 4, 2022):

In a press release from earlier today, the aXedras Group AG (aXedras) announced it had concluded its Series B funding round, including a strategic investment from the World Gold Council (WGC), who will be represented on the Board of Directors by David Tait, CEO of WGC. The aXedras team is excited to have reached this latest milestone and will use this round of funding to move the business into a growth and global scaling phase.

aXedras CEO, Urs Röösli:

“We are excited to partner with WGC and look forward to expanding on the work we have already done. Our Bullion Integrity Ledger™ provides investors, consumers and all market participants with provenance, integrity and chain of custody credentials. This is a critical step forward for the gold market in its digital transformation; it will help to keep gold relevant for 21st century investors.

“We are participating in the WGC and London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Gold Bar Integrity Programme pilot to demonstrate how our proven technology ensures the integrity of gold by effectively digitalizing the global gold supply chain.”

David Tait, Chief Executive Officer, World Gold Council:

“The WGC recognises that initiatives like the Gold Bar Integrity Programme require industry-wide collaboration but also significant funding to ensure success. This project is essential to improve market infrastructure and that is why we’ve invested in aXedras. We have committed to return any and all commercial revenue earned from this investment, back into the industry, for the benefit and positive development of the global gold market.”

The Gold Bar Integrity Programme, which is now underway, has brought together representatives from the entire gold supply chain. This transformative project is the first step towards a digital industry standard and a more aligned gold industry, enabling it to work together for a more accessible and transparent market. aXedras’ solution, the Bullion Integrity Ledger™ is already being used by major gold refiners and logistics companies, and as a part of the Gold Bar Integrity Programme, the company will now expand this work to pilot participants.

,>> Read Today’s Press Release