by Alasdair MacLeod
Gold Money
In conjunction with the LBMA, the World Gold Council is promoting blockchain technology as a means of identifying and tracking the sourcing of gold, its refining, and subsequent ownership. Is this a good idea?
Two years ago, David Tait, CEO of the World Gold Council announced an initiative to introduce blockchain technology to ensure that gold bars have been responsibly sourced and to establish a chain of custody, digitising the entire supply chain of gold bar production. There is no doubt that between them, the WGC and LBMA have been bringing considerable pressure to bear on refiners, markets, and miners in Switzerland, Japan, North America, Australia, and South Africa — some of which have signed up to the initiative.
At the launch of this “gold bar integrity programme” Sakhilla Mirza, LBMA’s General Council reckoned that the pilot scheme would take about three months (to mid-2022).