Joe Cavatoni (WGC), head of global sales for the World Gold Council (WGC), said on Friday that he believes the world’s gold industry will integrate blockchain technology to help “standardize reporting.” He also spoke about WGC’s Gold Bar Integr Programme (GBI) and London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), which aims to create “an international system for gold bar integrity and chain of custody and provenance.”
In a recent interview, Joe Cavatoni (head of global sales at the World Gold Council) and regional CEO discussed gold markets. Cavatoni spoke about the use of gold in different products and how this helps to fuel demand for the precious metal.
He pointed out that gold has many industrial uses, including cancer treatment. Gold is also used in products such as iPhones and iPads. Photothermal Therapy is another use of gold nanoparticles. This treatment is used to kill cancer cells.
Cavatoni also spoke about the WGC’s Gold Bar Integrity Programme, (GBI), which is a distributed ledger idea backed by both the and LBMA. GBI was announced officially in March 2022. It plans to use blockchain technology created by the distributed ledger companies Axedras, and Peer Leadger.
Cavatoni believes that GBI tech can be used to monitor gold transactions, quality, chain custody and sourcing. Cavatoni anticipates having a “type blockchain database construction in order to help the industry standardize reporting. [In order to] trace the integrity of gold bars and take it back to sourcing so you can feel good about knowing where the gold came from.
Cavatoni noted that the GBI project is a LBMA/WGC effort. However, Cavatoni said that a “group” of organizations are looking to use the GBI program tools. Ruth Crowell, CEO of LBMA, explained that international trade in wholesale, physical gold, was dependent on confidence when the program was announced.
Crowell maintained that the Gold Bar Integrity initiative was an important moment in the history of precious metals. Crowell stated that this was a significant step in promoting transparency for the good of the entire gold industry. Cavatoni said during Friday’s interview that “[gold] industry must be trusted by those who want to be part of it.”
Cavatoni stated that trust can be a barrier to greater gold adoption. This is because some people believe being off-grid makes it more appealing than being on-grid. However, he said that he prefers trust and transparency, and would rather promote trust and transparency in order to grow the industry legitimately and make it better. “Nothing we do is going to stop anyone from taking [a] physical delivery gold,” Cavatoni, WGC’s global sales head and regional CEO, said.
WGC and LBMA announced that the first phase of Axedras’s technology demonstration will be held in March. Axedras’ website shows that the company uses a proprietary blockchain called Bullion Integration Ledger (BIL).
BIL is a member-based platform that allows peer-to-peer communication. It claims to be secure and decentralized. The Axedras website notes that “[BIL] allows its members to share their information following this unified data standard and to record business transactions in an impenetrable and auditable fashion.”
Peer Ledger claims that it uses blockchain technology to solve global environmental, social, and governance problems. The company also offers MIMOSI Connect, which provides companies with a trusted, immutable record, document, and metrics of their entire supply chain. This supports responsible supply chain management.
Cavatoni made a comment this week about a group that uses GBI. WGC and LBMA have already included a few participating GBI companies. CME Group, Barrick Gold Corporation and Brinks are all mentioned.
