Optimizing the digital gold bullion supply chain to enhance efficiency, security, and public trust

Abstract

Background: The rapid growth of digital bullion services in Indonesia has transformed gold bullion management from a purely physical supply chain into a hybrid system integrating physical logistics and digital financial infrastructure. This transformation positions PT Pegadaian as a key factor in managing high-value gold assets while facing increasing demands for efficiency, security, and public trust. Although prior studies indicate that digitalization can enhance supply chain performance, high transaction volumes and asset values also create operational complexity and security risks, particularly in synchronizing physical and digital systems. This study aims to analyze the digital bullion supply chain of PT Pegadaian and formulate optimization strategies to improve efficiency, security, and public trust. Methods: A qualitative descriptive approach is applied using secondary data from official publications, regulatory documents, and relevant literature. Supply chain mapping is used to identify material, information, and financial flows, followed by problem analysis to determine critical performance areas. Findings: The results indicate that the digital bullion supply chain exhibits hybrid characteristics, where performance is influenced by transaction settlement efficiency, synchronization between physical gold stocks and digital balances, system security, physical gold distribution, and cost transparency. Increasing transaction volumes and asset values intensify system load and risk exposure, making these factors critical to supply chain reliability and public trust. The findings support supply chain integration theory, emphasizing coordinated material, information, and financial flows in managing high-value digital–physical systems. Conclusion: An integrated optimization model that balances operational efficiency, strengthened security, and transparency is essential to ensure the sustainability of Pegadaian’s digital bullion services and enhance public trust. Novelty/Originality of this article: This study proposes an integrated conceptual optimization model linking physical gold logistics, digital transaction systems, and public trust within a unified digital bullion supply chain framework, an area that remains limited in existing research.