One Trusted Record For Every Party In A Trade
TradeChain connects buyers, suppliers, logistics providers, warehouse operators, financiers and insurers on a single, permissioned platform — built around the mechanics of a real physical trade, not a generic fintech workflow. Active on coal, chrome, manganese and PGMs in South Africa.
Six Roles, One Trusted Platform.
TradeChain is built around the six participant roles in a real physical mining trade — each with a tailored onboarding flow, all transacting on the same verified record.
Buyers
Verified supplier choice, real-time visibility, and payment that only releases on confirmed performance.
Suppliers
Access to large buyers, competing financiers, and an escrow-backed guarantee that payment is already waiting on delivery.
Logistics & Warehousing
New volume through a trusted platform, digital proof of custody, and a warehouse receipt a financier can actually rely on.
Freight Forwarders
Streamlined customs and clearing coordination, with commission paid automatically from the same settlement waterfall.
Financiers
A cleaner, verified deal pipeline, a duplicate-financing registry, and materially reduced underwriting and fraud risk.
Insurers
A new, well-documented distribution channel — premiums paid straight from escrow, on real transaction data, not paper.
One Neutral Platform For The Full Industrial Trade Lifecycle.
- Source
- Contract
- Finance
- Insure
- Move & Store
- Deliver
- Settle
One auditable Canonical Transaction Record travels through every stage — demand creation to settlement.
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Canonical Transaction Record
A single, immutable, auditable record per transaction: RFQs, contracts, POs, shipments, receipts, invoices, finance and settlement.
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End-to-end Orchestration
Role-based, permissioned workflows spanning sourcing, finance, logistics, warehousing, delivery and payment.
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Frictionless Onboarding
No mandatory ERP integration — lightweight, mobile-first onboarding for South African SMEs and field operators.
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Finance & Insurance Enablement
Verified document packages let banks, lenders and insurers underwrite faster, via a competitive multi-financier marketplace.
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Logistics & Warehouse Exchange
Load-matching, backhaul optimisation, capacity booking and digital warehouse receipts tied to contract milestones.
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Data & AI Intelligence
Machine-learning models for matching, pricing, ETA forecasting, risk scoring and fraud detection.
Trade Chain is a neutral technology and marketplace operator — it never holds client funds, extends credit, or takes custody of goods.
Money Stays Safe, Released Only On Performance.
Every TradeChain transaction settles through the same regulated bank/escrow architecture and the same settlement waterfall, whichever roles are party to the deal.
Buyer funds escrow via a regulated partner — never held by TradeChain itself.
Financier & insurer are paid first, exactly as contracted.
Freight & logistics fees are released once their milestones are confirmed on the record.
Supplier receives the residual balance — funds never move before performance is confirmed, for any party.
A Neutral Marketplace For South African Mining Trade.
A Marketplace, Not A Lender
TradeChain never holds, lends or advances funds — by design. A regulated South African bank or escrow provider holds and settles every transaction; TradeChain verifies conditions and constructs the payment instruction.
Built On The Mining Corridor, Built To Expand
Active on coal, chrome, manganese and PGMs in South Africa, with a defined pathway into regional African corridors under AfCFTA-aligned expansion.
Built For SMMEs, Not Just Anchor Players
Deep-tier supplier finance lets an anchor buyer's credit unlock funding for smaller suppliers who wouldn't qualify alone, with free-tier onboarding - the same tools built to activate trade for Africa's underserved SMMEs as the platform expands under AFCFTA.
Join TradeChain
Whichever role fits your business — buyer, supplier, logistics or warehouse operator, freight forwarder, financier or insurer — partner seats are open now on the mining corridor, with reduced fees locked in for early participants.
Get in touch
Tell us a bit about your organisation and we'll be in touch.
We'll only use these details to contact you about TradeChain's launch.