Gold commodities market could enter the blockchain, according to new industry initiative

Dylan Butts

2 years ago

A partnership between the World Gold Council (WGC) and Swiss-based DLT infrastructure and application provider aXedras Group could make gold trading more accessible and streamlined, though insiders are skeptical, according to a Bloomberg report Sunday.

Fast facts

The WGC’s initiative “Gold247” proposes bringing a major segment of the multi-trillion-dollar gold market into Web3, using blockchain to create a database to track the world’s tradable gold bars.

The next step in the plan could be to create a digital token backed by physical gold that can be more easily traded than the 400 oz gold bars, David Tait, who heads the World Gold Council, told Bloomberg.

In recent years, gold and digital tokens have competed as an investment alternative to stocks, bonds and fiat currency. Bitcoin is often referred to as “digital gold” by some advocates.

The council has tried a merger between the two assets before, helping to launch a gold-backed exchange-traded fund in 2004. However, there are barriers that can prevent retail investors from swapping ETF shares for actual gold bars, according to Bloomberg.

Instead, the initiative’s envisioned gold-based tokens would “defragment” the gold market, increasing accessibility and transparency of the actual physical commodity and stimulating demand from everyday investors, WGC says.

However, market players gathering for a conference on Oct. 16 were skeptical that Gold247 will gain traction, with so many previous attempts to disrupt failing, reported Bloomberg.