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Philipp Stockinger
6 days ago

aXedras’ Journey: Empowering Gold Bar Integrity

Updated: 5 days ago

Connecting and Digitalizing the Precious Metals Industry 

aXedras, a Swiss-based software company, was founded in 2018 as a result of public consultations undertaken to further strengthen gold supply chain integrity. The consultation’s focus was on how technology can help address risks identified in the precious metals market, such as duplicate or counterfeit bars and supply chain provenance.

Today, aXedras is at the forefront of digital transformation in the global precious metals industry. Specializing in designing, developing, and distributing software solutions based on distributed ledger technology (DLT), aXedras aims to connect and digitalize the precious metals industry.

Within the upstream sphere, aXedras collaborates with the World Gold Council (WGC) and its members to realize the GBI platform. Within the downstream sphere, aXedras is engaged with the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) to develop and roll out the envisioned GBI database. Finally, a growing amount of stakeholders along the global value chains of precious metals is already trusting aXedras’ solution, ensuring increased integrity, seamless integration and interoperability, and enhanced efficiency across the global supply chains of precious metals.



Standardization and Bridging Industry Initiatives 


The stakeholders in the precious metals industry, who are involved in the sourcing, processing, refining, and handling of physical precious metals, have faced similar challenges for quite some time. Significant efforts, time and money were invested to overcome the challenges around responsible sourcing, compliance and due diligence, authenticity, traceability, and transparency, - all of which can affect the industry’s integrity. Now, demonstrating the progresses achieved to investors and business partners may take place on a standardized, neutral and agnostic platform.

The stakeholders’ individual challenges are interdependent. However, as long as the players act in isolated solutions, it is almost impossible to fully solve the underlying problem: They have been trying to solve these issues independently, which has led to inefficiencies. The lack of a common data language, standardized taxonomy, and a neutral, interoperable platform has prevented the exchange and preservation of valuable provenance, compliance, and chain-of-custody data along global supply chains.

In typical Swiss fashion, aXedras chose a neutral and independent approach to fill this niche by providing a connecting platform. Collaborations with concept partners from the industry and workshops with regulators and industry associations such as the LBMA, the ASFCMP[1] and good delivery refiners, the WGC and mining organizations, the Swiss Better Gold Association, or the Singapore Bullion Market Association (SBMA), have been key from the very beginning to establish reputation, integrity, and trust. aXedras and its solutions are recognized as a brand focused on establishing standards based on an acknowledged taxonomy to connect various industry initiatives and companies.


aXedras Leads the Way in Gold Bar Integrity with its Bullion Integrity Ledger™️


aXedras’ holistic approach and solutions may serve as the connecting backbone between the suppliers of primary or secondary materials and the investors and “consumers” of the refined materials. On the one hand, aXedras supports the members of the WGC in their commitment to enhanced supply chain transparency by providing the required GBI platform. On the other hand, for the members of the LBMA, aXedras can simplify the reporting of data and documents required following the latest Responsible Gold Guidance (RGG), and vaulted bars, ensuring a seamless, secure, and efficient process for data exchange between industry stakeholders. Additionally, available security features can be seamlessly integrated into aXedras’ solutions. These complementary tools create a robust digital ecosystem to enhance the integrity, transparency, and authenticity of the precious metals supply chain.

aXedras’ Bullion Integrity Ledger™ digitalizes provenance information, captures the chain of custody, and improves efficiency around business transactions. aXedras’ applications of digital twins complement its innovative confidentiality concept in place, ensuring a comprehensive and secure solution for the precious metals industry to protect the integrity of products and sensitive data.


aXedras’ Success in the 2022 Global Gold Bar Integrity Pilot


In 2022, the LBMA and the World Gold Council (WGC) co-launched the Gold Bar Integrity program, initiating a global pilot with selected software providers, including aXedras. The official scope of the pilot was to achieve end-to-end digitalization of the precious metals value chain. More than 30 pilot participants used the Bullion Integrity Ledger™ by aXedras to test digitalizing business transactions from a mine via a refinery and ultimately to the market.

These simulations demonstrated that aXedras’ solution can successfully digitalize the gold supply chain, efficiently and securely registering and exchanging data among parties. The platform integrated provenance data from the source of origin and ensured traceability of the chain of custody for each refined product. It also incorporated important features such as duplicate detection, exit/re-entry of refined products, and bulk uploading of materials and bars for all actors – while maintaining confidentiality over business practices.

According to the conclusions of this GBI pilot, aXedras demonstrated the potential of its Bullion Integrity Ledger™ to transform the industry by enhancing transparency, integrity, and efficiency across the entire supply chain. The pilot also pointed out that the aXedras solution already met all requirements stipulated in the 2022 pilot and was ready for the market.

Consequently, aXedras decided to delve deeper into the mining industry and engaged with several mining organizations to assess the mine-to-refiner processes and requirements in detail. The focus of this deep dive was on in-depth requirements engineering around the doré bars sales process with several concept partners. The project resulted in receiving a substantial volume of high-quality feedback, which was instrumental in advancing the existing aXedras solution.

Following prioritization with internal and external stakeholders, aXedras developed new key features specifically designed for suppliers of primary and secondary materials. These enhancements also benefit the refiners who receive these materials, further advancing the platform's capabilities and utility in the precious metals industry.[2]


WGC Members Commit to Enhanced Supply Chain Transparency in 2023


In 2023, the World Gold Council announced that its members, representing the majority of the global large-scale gold mining industry, have committed to enhanced supply chain transparency. One aspect of this pledge includes uploading core provenance data to the Gold Bar Integrity platform.[3] As a solution provider, aXedras is honored to contribute to this transformative step towards increased transparency in global gold supply chains. The goal is to create a verifiable ledger of responsibly mined gold.

Initially, the mining organizations will enter core provenance data for each shipment on the platform to share with the receiving refiners, integrating the logistics part as well. Finally, the producers and the refiners can simultaneously exchange assay results with each other using aXedras’ GBI platform.

The WGC and its members are setting new standards for transparency and accountability in the precious metals industry and, up until now, more than ten mining companies have already joined aXedras’ GBI platform.


aXedras Selected as Service Provider for LBMA Gold Bar Integrity Database in 2024


In September 2023, the LBMA, the independent authority for precious metals, launched a Request for Proposal (RFP) to develop a digital ecosystem aimed at bolstering market integrity and ensuring trust in the underlying gold.

LBMA’s goal is to establish an efficient platform that combines information about the sources of LBMA Good Delivery metal, refinery production, vault holdings, and other key data, all within the context of enhanced integrity.

aXedras has been appointed by the LBMA as the official service provider for the Gold Bar Integrity Database, set to launch in late 2024.[4] This innovative initiative marks a steps towards digitizing the Responsible Gold Guidance and strengthening trust within the precious metals market.

Among other benefits, a standardized taxonomy will reduce reporting complexity and enable seamless information flow along supply chains. Sharing sensitive data and documents through a secure platform with automated data validation and checks will significantly mitigate risks. By providing more granular data and scalability, along with features such as alerts and automated data analysis, the GBI database enhances transparency and accountability throughout the supply chain. Looking ahead, the LBMA envisions a global digital ecosystem with improved efficiency, security and market governance, laying the digital foundation by the GBI Database.[5]


Enhancing Industry Standards: aXedras’ Compatibility with WGC and LBMA Initiatives


Utilizing aXedras’ established platform, the Bullion Integrity Ledger™, aXedras ensures full compatibility with both the World Gold Council's GBI initiative and the LBMA GBI database, supporting industry-wide standards for integrity and transparency.


Introducing the Bullion Integrity Ledger™️


The Bullion Integrity Ledger™ is a distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based business network that connects various stakeholders in the global precious metal industry. It is a decentralized, secure, and member-based platform for peer-to-peer interaction and exchange of data and documents. The Bullion Integrity Ledger™ utilizes unified, mutually agreed-upon data standards to accelerate the digital transformation of the industry.

Unlike systems that tokenize precious metals, aXedras focuses on the integrity of physical precious metals, their associated provenance data, and digital transformation to improve B2B process efficiency and decrease operational costs. Key aspects include standardization and streamlining the exchange of data and documents among business partners involved in the physical transactions of precious metals, from the mine to the refiner to the vault.



As stakeholders along the global value-chain of precious metals have specialized in different core competencies, aXedras focuses equally on their diverse business requirements. aXedras offers a modular solution catering to various stakeholders and business processes along the precious metals value chain:

-        aXProvenance: Facilitates the digitalization of upstream business processes, from all suppliers to refiners.

-        aXCirculation: Enables the digitalization of downstream business processes, from refiners to the market.

By adopting aXProvenance and aXCirculation, aXedras empowers the precious metals industry to demonstrate enhanced transparency, integrity and trust across the supply chains of precious metals.

To digitalize B2B processes, the Bullion Integrity Ledger™ enables its members to share information following this unified data standard and to record the outcomes of business transactions in an immutable and auditable manner. Ultimately, this leads to documented products without compromising the confidentiality of the owners or the parties otherwise involved in the transactions.


aXProvenance Module: Connectivity, Efficiency and Integrity


aXProvenance is recommended and utilized by producers of primary materials (and suppliers of secondary materials) to capture core provenance data and/or provenance details around products such as doré bars, or concentrates, as well as KYC and due diligence information of the supplier itself. Increased integrity and transparency are achieved through harmonized data standards, aligning with WGC's goals to ensure "responsible, safe, and secure handling of gold" and fostering trust within the industry. Connectivity is also key: producers and refiners can benefit from one unified tool that connects them to bilaterally exchange assay results around their shipments and deposits.


Suppliers of primary or secondary materials can:

  • Benefit from one tool that connects them with their business partners.

  • Digitalize the shipment process and exchange of assay results with refiners in an auditable and immutable manner.

  • Streamline internal and external reporting activities based on digitalized data, documents, and processes according to unified data standards.

  • Promote themselves as a transparent and responsible brand for downstream buyers of gold.


aXCirculation Module


aXCirculation is designed for stakeholders in the precious metals value chain who manage refined bullions: from 400oz standard bars to small bars and other products such as grain. Starting with the refiners, aXCirculation not only allows them to allocate digital provenance details to physical refined products but also simplifies the reporting of Responsible Gold Guidance (RGG) data. Additionally, refiners and custodians can efficiently report their holdings at specific points in time to their customers and other stakeholders, providing a streamlined tool for reporting and maintaining high standards of data integrity.


Refiners can:

  • Benefit from one tool that connects them with their upstream business partners: they can white-label the aXedras platform as their own upstream client portal.

  • Allocate provenance data to refined products produced in segregated or commingled lines, applying different traceability methods such as batch-based processing or the mass-balance approach.

  • Share all available data and documents digitally regarding the origin of refined precious metals with their downstream customers.


Logistics providers can:

  • Integrate with their forwarding and vaulting services.

  • Receive and exchange digital bar lists based on standardized data with customers or regulators.

  • Become the preferred custodian of data accompanying the products already vaulted.


Investors, banks, and dealers can:

  • Know the provenance and chain of custody of their products (new: Know your asset).

  • Use the available data to fulfill their disclosure obligations around conflict minerals regulations, sanctions, and/or ESG.

  • Benefit from intuitive dashboards and data portals.


Ensuring Top-Notch Security: aXedras’ Robust Cybersecurity Setup


aXedras has implemented a robust cybersecurity setup for its solution and the network. As the solution provider of the Bullion Integrity Ledger™, aXedras designs, develops, and tests its software solutions while engaging ISO-certified operators for the installation, hosting, monitoring, and alerting of customer accounts and applications.

The distributed nature of the Bullion Integrity Ledger™️ enhances security by eliminating a central data repository. Additionally, business-sensitive data and documents are shared and synchronized exclusively between the involved business partners' accounts.


Now is the Time to Join the Journey


aXedras has positioned itself as a leader in the digital transformation of the precious metals industry by providing a comprehensive, industry-tailored solution capable of covering both upstream and downstream transparency requirements. Through close collaboration with key market organizations like the World Gold Council (WGC) and the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and influential concept partners from the industry itself, aXedras has built strong user groups across different segments to gather feedback and incorporate new requirements into future releases.

All members benefit from a market-wide solution rather than isolated initiatives, without losing ownership of their data. This collective approach fosters greater transparency and efficiency, setting new standards for the industry. As the market begins to embrace technology, the Bullion Integrity Ledger™️ stands out as a pivotal tool for connecting stakeholders and creating efficiencies across the supply chain.

The journey towards full digital transformation has just begun. By becoming a member of aXedras’ platform, you have the opportunity to drive the process forward, contributing to and benefiting from a secure, transparent, and efficient precious metals market. Join us in shaping the future of the industry, ensuring integrity and trust every step of the way.


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About aXedras

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, aXedras is an independent software solutions provider dedicated to advancing the precious metals industry through innovative digital solutions. Its primary focus is on ensuring the integrity of gold bars and other precious metals. At the core of its offerings is the Bullion Integrity Ledger™️, a secure, DLT-based platform designed to digitalize global supply chains. This member-based ecosystem facilitates peer-to-peer interactions among stakeholders in the precious metals market, strengthening integrity, transparency and traceability, and confidentiality in data and business transactions. Learn more at www.axedras.com 


Press Contact

Philipp Stockinger, Head of Business Development, aXedras AG

E-Mail: philipp.stockinger@axedras.com; Phone: +41 (0) 58 806 2228

Note: This blogpost is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest.


Sources:

[1] Swiss Association of Manufacturers and Traders in Precious Metals

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