An innovative design and simulation of a blockchain-based smart contract framework for enhancing gold traceability

Abstract

Once mined, gold passes through various stakeholders (from miners to consumers), often erasing origin signatures, resulting in an illegal gold chain. Tracing the origin and all custodians of a given gold bar ensures that fraud, illegal practices, and gold mined by criminal gangs or in conflict zones are avoided. Recently, blockchain technology has been considered the best solution for tracking gold bars in the gold supply chain because blockchain-based ledgers make it easier for all stakeholders to track gold, guarantee its provenance, and make it more difficult for malicious parties to forge receipts. Through a design science research approach, this study conceptualised and simulated a proof-of-concept prototype called GoldNet. GoldNet was simulated in a Ganache – a local blockchain platform used to deploy smart contracts in a bid to make them immutable and trustworthy. The implementation used Solidity, ReactJS, and Web3JS Software Development Kit. The study contributes to the theory and practice of the gold industry by applying design knowledge obtained through an iterative design process and serving as an edifice for integrating emerging digital technologies, particularly blockchain, in the mining sector.