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General Market Commentary
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Precious Metals
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General Market Commentary
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General Precious Metals
CME Group, UK’s Royal Mint test blockchain-based gold trading platform
Chicago-based exchange CME Group Inc and Britain's Royal Mint have started testing a blockchain-based platform for trading gold, as more projects using the emerging technology come closer to deployment.
CME Group announced on Tuesday that the new platform, built with technology companies AlphaPoint and BitGo, was being tested by a select group of "major financial institutions," and is on schedule for launch this year.
The new platform will allow institutions to trade "Royal Mint Gold," or RMG, a new digital token issued by the Royal Mint, which makes Britain's coins.
Each RMG will represent the digitized version of 1 gram of gold stored in the Royal Mint's vault.
Transactions will be recorded on a blockchain, technology that allows a network of computers to keep track of and verify asset ownership.
Blockchain, which first emerged as the technology powering cryptocurrency bitcoin, is seen by financial institution as a powerful new tool to increase transparency and reduce the costs and complexity of a wide range of financial transactions.
"There is a higher level of traceability and audit that comes with blockchain technology because participants are provided with a permanent, immutable record of ownership and chain of ownership and custody," said Igor Telyatnikov, president and chief operating officer of AlphaPoint.
Up to $1 billion worth of RMGs will be issued initially by the Royal Mint.
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