[LBMA] approved refiners, have a known history and can be easily re-sold. Most of the world's professional gold dealing happens within the LBMA good delivery rules. BullionVault is a full member of the LBMA.

Unlike most gold investment products, BullionVault's clients own their gold directly as property in their own name within the jurisdiction the gold is stored. Clients can chose to store their gold in Zurich, London, New York or Singapore.

An internal market allows clients can trade their holdings with each other in units as small as a single gram. Clients can choose to place large orders [800oz] through the London professional markets. BullionVault itself also runs trading bots to ensure liquidity, quoting two-way prices on its exchange 24/7.

In June 2010, the gold industry's key market-development body the World Gold Council joined with the internet and technology fund Augmentum Capital, which is backed by the London-listed Rothschild Investment Trust, in making an $18.8 million (GB £12.5m) investment in the business. This makes BullionVault rare as a disruptive start-up that has been willingly embraced by an established industry.

Their exchange's technology stack runs almost entirely on open-source components. CTO Kris Jenkins says, "I couldn't imagine trying to build a company like BullionVault using proprietary software. I've seen startups die while they were still negotiating support contracts. Often when they could have picked an open solution so reliable it would never need support."

The company was founded by Paul Tustain in 2005 and is based in London with an office in New York.