ICE launches daily gold futures tied to London bar format
ICE has launched daily gold futures in London based on the 100-troy-ounce bar, aiming to move some over-the-counter trading onto a visible exchange
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) launched daily gold futures contracts in London this week, each based on the 100-troy-ounce bar size that anchors the city's spot market. ICE also began listing similar daily contracts for silver, platinum, and palladium, according to Market Briefs.
London remains the world’s largest over-the-counter (OTC) gold market. Pricing and physical settlement there are largely handled by a select network of global banks and brokers, not on a public exchange. Meanwhile, standardized gold futures contracts are well established in New York (COMEX) and Shanghai, providing transparency other markets sometimes lack.
ICE is already responsible for the daily price-setting auctions for London bullion. Past initiatives to move London's gold futures onto exchanges have struggled. The London Metal Exchange launched gold contracts in 2017 with some major participants, but low trading volumes led to their closure in 2022. ICE itself rolled out related futures in 2016, while CME Group added a contract in 2020 tied to the same large bar format. Recent history shows it is difficult to make exchange-traded gold futures popular in London.
Perspective: physical vs paper claims and the impact on buyers
ICE’s new contracts are settled on the exchange, not by delivering physical 100-troy-ounce gold bars out of London’s commercial vaults. This means buyers hold claims to future metal delivery in a defined contract format, not to actual gold bars stored on their behalf. For those interested in owning physical metal, that remains a separate process, with costs above the official spot price to cover premiums, storage, logistics, and often extra verification.
The difference between physical gold and paper claims is significant. Exchange-traded contracts may show price transparency and could open London's market to more participants if trading grows. Yet unless a contract directly supports delivery, ownership is recorded as a futures claim, not custody of metal. OTC gold trades with physical delivery in London continue to be handled under separate rules. For now, these are still the primary channel for acquiring outright ownership of bars.
We think the main issue going forward is whether ICE’s new contracts will attract trading volumes beyond the initial market-makers. If so, public price discovery in London could improve, but the distinction between holding a futures claim and taking delivery of physical gold remains unchanged. For buyers seeking actual metal, the addition of daily futures changes how pricing and risk are managed, not how bars are owned.
Source: ICE launches 100-ounce daily gold futures in London
This article is general information, not investment advice. Facts from other publications are their reporting, linked above.