Blockchain users in the logistics sector agree that the technology will rapidly form a dominant infrastructure within supply chains and will soon become a regulatory requirement in digital logistics chains.
Indeed, it not only helps to secure the exchange of information between third parties, but also, and most particularly, offers a means of responding to pressure from consumers wishing to know the origin of the goods and services they consume. It is already beyond dispute that this technology, – transparent, reliable and irreversible as it is – has already begun a revolution. Thanks to its unchanging nature, blockchain makes it possible to ascertain the origin and production quality of products, but also to verify the commitments of the producers with regard to ethics and environmental responsibility.
In our case, in view of the sensitive nature of gold refinery operations and given our strategy of sourcing gold from mines in various countries, we had to develop flawless security protocols. That is why we digitised our supply chain in order to better ensure and verify the full traceability of the various stages and stakeholders.
Using blockchain to store all of the information connected with our industry was therefore the obvious choice at this stage of development. The real challenge was to transform our operational constraints into a marketing lever to reassure our end customers (jewellers, institutional and private investors).
In concrete terms, when a digital transaction token is created and registered on blockchain, this allows the various stakeholders within our ecosystem to ensure the quality and the fair trade origin of the gold and simply increasingly rapid exchanges.
For the majority of our mine operators, the concept of mobile banking is a necessary reality, which is already very topical. Operators in gold-exporting locations such as Africa or Latin America have very quickly developed smartphone payment solutions so as to adapt to a population that does not tend to have access to bank accounts.
Thus, in the medium term, “mine operators” from semi-industrial or artisanal mines can use this token as a means of trade for their gold. Once we digitise our gold into tokens using our computers, it becomes physically less vulnerable.
This token can be exchanged among all intermediaries within our ecosystem right up to the final market, meaning that tokens act as an asset that can be converted into physical, fair trade, 100% traceable gold at any time.
Another major advantage of our digitization is that it will allow us to certify changes of of ownership with respect to this “rare physical gold” In order to do this, it will be secured in Monaco in a private, blockchain-registered vault by our strategic and logistical partner Brinks.
Indeed, despite the additional cost, the traceability we enjoy as a result allows us to showcase a level of transparency that has become a powerful argument in reassuring partners such as Lloyd’s but also our jeweller or corporate end customers.
Our objective was to ensure that all of these agents would be able to certify this ethical gold and could be assured of the constant improvement within the uncompromising world that is the gold industry.
There is no doubt that blockchain will revolutionise companies such as ours, which are concerned about transparency. From security constraints to new marketing arguments, there are many reasons why blockchain will quickly become a standard, a benchmark or a label for companies operating nationally and internationally.
Aurum Monaco
1, rue du Gabian
98000 Monaco
Tél. (+377) 97 77 35 17
www.aurumonaco.mc
