NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tradewind Markets, a financial technology company, announced the launch of a provenance application which will allow platform users to imbed detailed information about the supply chain of precious metals directly into digital records of ownership. In combination with Tradewind’s existing trading and custody solution, the application will enable market participants to transact precious metals based on reliable supply chain information.
“Information in the Gold supply chain is disorganized, managed across disconnected databases and systems, and is often unreliable,” said Grant Angwin, President of Asahi Refining. “The Tradewind platform helps to solve for this issue, efficiently tracking the different counterparties who control physical metal, and allowing owners to trace the provenance of the metal through the network.” Mr. Angwin went on to say, “Asahi believes that including this technology solution as part of our offering as a refiner will help us to continue delivering best in class service to our customers.”
The Tradewind provenance application will allow authorized users to record details about the primary source and physical characteristics of metal, the management of logistics and refining, and compliance with standards - which may include those articulated by the LBMA and the World Gold Council - directly onto Tradewind’s proprietary blockchain (“VaultChain”). Once this information is recorded and cryptographically secured, it will be embedded into the digital records of ownership managed on VaultChain. Because VaultChain is distributed in architecture, with systemic controls over inputs and validation, no single party will be able to change that information as ownership of precious metals is transferred and updated.
“We’re excited to deliver a provenance solution with our partners in production and refining, and our network of dealers and other platform users,” said Fraser Buchan, co-founder of Tradewind. “There is growing demand for reliable information about the source of precious metals, and for a solution that allows responsible actors to clearly identify themselves and capitalize on the value of best practices.” Mr. Buchan went on to say, “given the full scope of functionality available on our platform - trade execution, custody, and now provenance - we are uniquely well positioned to help the industry transition to more efficient, technology driven operating models.”
David Stephens, VP Corporate Development at Goldcorp commented, “a low-cost technology solution that allows responsible producers like Goldcorp to clearly segregate material is an important step forward for the precious metals market.” Mr. Stephens went on to say, “the Tradewind Platform will make it much easier for participants who value supply chain transparency to interact with each other and deal in responsible metal.”
Consumers - whether investors, industrial users or jewelry manufacturers - will be able to easily locate and transact in metal from the primary supplier and refiner of their choice, independently verify the provenance information related to that metal, and repurpose that information to suit their unique use case. In the future, this could include linking physical products with unique identifiers, such as engraved public keys, to the information maintained on the Tradewind ledger.
About Tradewind
Tradewind Markets has built a technology platform for digitizing the ownership and trading of physical assets. The Tradewind solution combines the world-class exchange technology of IEX, the fair, simple and transparent stock exchange with a blockchain application tailored for precious metals. Tradewind is operated by a team of 22 professionals with extensive experience in electronic trading, gold investment management, market operations and blockchain technology, and has been financed by industry leaders such as Sprott Inc., Goldcorp Inc., Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., IAMGOLD Corp, and Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.. For more information please visit https://tradewindmarkets.com/.
