Australia: Perth Mint Taps SMX Blockchain Technology for Gold Traceability

Perth Mint, Australia’s official gold bullion mint established in 1899, is collaborating with Security Matters (SMX), an information technology firm listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), to launch a blockchain-based gold supply chain traceability project, reports ZDNet on February 5, 2020.

Real Gold on the Blockchain

Having joined forces with financial technology startup, InfiniGold to create the Perth Mint Gold Token (PMGT), a distributed ledger technology (DLT) based digital currency backed by physical gold in the Perth Mint vaults last October, the Australian state-run gold mint is hatching a fresh blockchain ambition.

Per sources close to the latest development, Perth Mint and SMX are looking to launch trueGold, a mine-o-marketplace ethical gold supply chain assurance platform.

The team claims the trueGold project has been in the works for two years and if it finally gets the necessary regulatory stamp, it would form the foundation for a “high-tech proprietary gold supply chain solution.”

Commenting on the innovative project, Richard Hayes, Perth Mint CEO, noted that the trueGold platform will promote transparency in the gold supply chain by enabling stakeholders to have accurate information pertaining to the origin of the precious metal and its entire movement from the production to the distribution phase.

He added:

“This complete transparency will instil even greater trust in a commodity which already provides the ultimate refuge during times of economic and geopolitical turmoil.”

All Hands on Deck

If all goes as planned, the team expects the trueGold solution to become fully operational by the beginning of 2021.

Perth Mint and SMX are also hopeful that more big players in the precious metals ecosystem will latch onto the trueGold project. The team plans to onboard a vast array of market participants including miners, jewellers, vaults, financial institutions and tech firms, to commercialize trueGold.

Haggai Alon, SMX founder and CEO stated categorically that the trueGold solution aims to leverage blockchain technology in enhancing the three major product life cycle of the industry and permanently curb counterfeiting and other illicit activities.

“By differentiating between and employing a unique technique to the three product life cycles: raw material to production, production to commercial; and commercial to recycle, you can create an entire technology-powered industry that fosters integrity, anti-counterfeiting, corporate transparency, sustainability and accountability,” he said.

Though nascent, the immutability property of DLT has made it quite useful in the supply chain ecosystem and a good number of forward-thinking firms are now integrating blockchain technology into their processes.

In December, ALROSA, a Russian diamond producer announced plans to launch a blockchain solution to enable its customers to easily authenticate their purchased products.