Integrating cutting-edge marking technology, big data analytics and secure digital infrastructure, the strategic joint venture between Commstack and SIPCA is a mining industry milestone towards a scalable and practical path to responsible sourcing. Craig Meerholz, Founder of Commstack, explains what his firm’s initiative with Swiss tech player SICPA means for the future of tokenising such real-world assets.
Oversight of the international mineral supply chain has been transformed by an initiative that delivers greater transparency, more responsible sourcing and higher levels of regulatory compliance and accountability in mining.
At its crux is end-to-end traceability, by bringing together the digital infrastructure and specialist commodity sector expertise of Commstack, with SICPA, which supports the effective governance and long-term prosperity of nations.
This partnership generates unique synergies, combining SICPA’s secure marking and authentication technologies, expertise and global presence through long-standing collaborations with governments, central banks and regulators worldwide, and Commstack’s real-time, fact-based traceability and compliance digital platform.
This landmark strategic joint venture starts with gold and other high-value commodities, but its potential is much wider: it signals a shift in how natural resource governance and commodity markets may evolve.
The Commstack-SICPA partnership ensures full visibility across the ‘mine to market’ value chain, enabling significant additional revenue opportunities for governments, facilitating global trade compliance, formalising artisanal mining and digitising trade flows.
For miners and buyers, the platform reduces risk, increases confidence in supply chain integrity and supports adherence to evolving ESG requirements.
New Opportunities
Scaling a secure, digital-first solution in this way to bring more clarity throughout the mineral supply chain is also a hint at what the GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins) – the US law passed in July 2025 – might mean for the tokenisation of real-world assets (RWA), including natural resources.
As a landmark for stablecoin regulation, the Act provides legal certainty, strong reserve rules and consumer protections. In turn, it unlocks momentum for RWA tokenisation by making stablecoins a more credible, regulated bridge between traditional finance and Web3.
While the Act isn’t directly about natural resources, its support for RWA tokenisation could extend to commodities like resource-backed tokens.
With stablecoins now seen as reliable settlement tools, it becomes more practical to tokenise natural resource assets and trade them on-chain – increasing liquidity and transparency and, potentially, opening up investment from new institutional players.
The Commstack-SICPA joint venture, for example, already builds on a programme developed by SICPA to secure gold bars to move towards full traceability. In addition to reinforcing transparency and compliance across the mining industry, it fosters greater trust, too.
As the tokenisation of RWAs – including natural resources – transitions from innovation to infrastructure, the coming years could potentially see institutional-grade issuance platforms built into banks and custodians. It can also stimulate significant adoption in areas of the capital markets such as trade finance, short-term debt, commodities and private credit. Ultimately, natural resource tokenisation could become a compliance-driven necessity.
