Fremont, Calif., May 22, 2020: This is a rather unusual use case of Internet of Things (IoT) and near field communication (NFC). In order to tackle counterfeiting in the precious metals space, Identiv, Inc. said it will partner with MintID to launch the world’s first NFC-protected, IoT-connected gold and silver bullion.
Until now, consumers have struggled with the uncertainty of whether or not the precious metal products they own are actually genuine. Together, Identiv and MintID developed an AES-128 bit encrypted, tamper-proof NFC label that, when embedded directly at the source, MintID customers can use to authenticate their investments in real time with MintID’s iOS and Android mobile apps, said Identiv in a press release.
MintID has developed an end-to-end solution for authenticating precious metal products such as silver coins or solid gold bars, and all types of luxury goods. MintID embeds NFC tags onto products directly at minting agencies. Upon tapping with a mobile device, the chip uses NFC to display a product’s specifications, via MintID’s Android or iOS mobile app, allowing manufacturers, suppliers, and consumers to track the supply chain of the physical product.
But standard NFC and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are not designed for metal. The technology behind Identiv’s RFID Tag on Metal (TOM Labels is unique, claimed the company. These high-frequency (HF) labels (ISO/IEC 14443 or 15693) are equipped with a shielding technology that provides an optimum read range when applied to metallic surfaces. Featuring government-grade AES-128 bit encryption, MintID chose to work with Identiv to embed the company’s tamper-proof TOM Labels onto its gold and silver bullion, making this partnership the first to focus on securely authenticating precious metals in the IoT.
“Each MintID NFC chip contains a NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF)-encoded message with government-grade cryptography,” said Stephane Ardiley, Identiv Director of Product Management, in a written statement. “When scanned, the chip is validated through a Cloud service guaranteeing the authenticity of the gold or silver product. To address the challenges of RFID in metallic environments, Identiv has designed a series of tags that deliver the utmost performance when read by a variety of iOS and Android mobile devices. Our RFID TOM Labels were the perfect solution for MintID and the logical first step for NFC into the precious metals market.”
TOM Labels are ideal for interactive mobile applications (i.e., micro-payment, advertising, loyalty, or access), production process control and traceability, asset and inventory management (i.e., tool tracking, servers, computers, etc.), medical environments (i.e., equipment identification and tracking), shelf or location tagging, transportation projects, and NFC-based applications, in addition to counterfeit protection.
“Unlike serial numbers, fluorescent inks, or QR codes, MintID chips cannot be copied or cloned,” said Corey Maita, MintID Founder, in a statement.. “Through our partnership with Identiv, MintID can provide locked, encrypted chips that link physical bullion products to Cloud-based digital records. Together, we’re connecting precious metals to the IoT to provide our customers with complete transparency and an end-to-end solution to protect their investments.”
MintID’s Android and iOS mobile apps store a digital identity of each connected product, and each product can be instantaneously authenticated and guaranteed genuine by the minting facility that produced it. The app features real-time authentication of goods, product specifications, and buy/sell capabilities.
MintID’s inaugural product line includes 1 oz gold bars, 1 oz silver rounds, and 10 oz silver bars. The plan is to expand further into the luxury goods market over the next several years.
Image credit: Identiv