ICE Launches London Gold Futures to Capture $190 Billion Daily Market

These new contracts, which also cover silver, platinum, and palladium, integrate directly with the daily gold price auctions already managed by ICE. By anchoring the futures to these established benchmarks, the exchange is attempting to succeed where previous initiatives faltered. London has historically struggled to sustain a major futures market despite holding roughly $1.4 trillion in gold bullion within its vaults.

Previous efforts to capture this liquidity saw limited success. The London Gold Futures Market shuttered in 1985 after three years of operation, and the London Metal Exchange discontinued its own gold contract in 2022. ICE is betting that its existing control over the daily benchmark auctions provides the necessary infrastructure to attract the critical mass of trading activity that eluded its predecessors.