OTSFA — One True Source for All

Effective Date: June 15, 2026 · Last Updated: June 15, 2026

OTSFA is the TSM doctrine. It is the rule that decides every editorial, design and data decision on TrueSource Metals™. We publish it here so that visitors know what we are committed to, and so that we never forget it ourselves.

1. Primary or nothing

Every number, ticker, regulation, sanction entry, producer figure or news article on TSM links to its primary source — the exchange, the regulator, the official filing, the publisher. We do not republish data without attribution and we do not cite aggregators as if they were the source.

If a primary source is unavailable, we say so and link to the closest authoritative reference.

2. Name + link, never name alone

When we credit an organisation we link to their official URL. A name without a link is a violation of OTSFA. This applies to exchanges, regulators, indices, publishers, vendors, refiners, mints, NGOs — anyone we mention as a source of authority.

3. No competitor comparisons

We describe what we are, not what others aren’t. Mentioning another product, vendor or publication in a comparative frame — even implicitly (“unlike X…”, “X has historical archives but…”) — is a violation of OTSFA. Our value stands on its own merits or it does not stand.

4. Methodology is public, formulas may be private

We always disclose how we measure: the sources we use, the frequency of updates, the baseline date, the scope of inclusion. We may withhold internal weights or proprietary scoring formulas when they constitute TSM intellectual property — but the inputs and the result are always public.

5. If we get it wrong, we say so

When we discover an error, we correct it openly. Errata carry a date and, where relevant, a link to the corrected source. We do not silently overwrite history.

The principle applies symmetrically to ourselves and to the sources we cite — if a primary source updates or retracts a figure, we update accordingly and note the change.

6. We aggregate, we don’t designate

TSM consolidates the primary lists published by recognised authorities — sanctions registers (OFAC, EU, UK OFSI, UN), wanted notices (Interpol), and regulator publications (MAS, SFC, VARA, FCA, ESMA, SEC, FINMA) — and links to them. We do not declare anyone sanctioned, wanted, criminal, fraudulent or non-compliant on our own authority. Every status statement on TSM is a citation, not a judgement.

How OTSFA shows up on the site

• Data sources page (www.truesourcemetals.com/sources) — every category of data we use, with primary-source links.
• Tokenization glossary & Hub glossary — every defined term links to its authoritative reference (USGS, LBMA, LME, ISO, IFRS, ICC, OECD, regulators).
• Producers and country pages — figures cite the original filing (HKEX, SEC 10-K, annual report, USGS MCS).
• News cards — every headline links to the publisher; we never reproduce full text.
• Ecosystem catalogues (/ecosystem/) — vaults, refiners, PRAs, info vendors, sanctions, regulators — each entry links to the official site.
• Sanctions & screen pages — every entry shows the primary list it was drawn from and links back to it.

What OTSFA is not

• It is not a marketing claim. It is a working rule that we apply before we publish.
• It is not a guarantee of accuracy — primary sources can err. It is a guarantee of traceability: you can always follow a number back to where it came from.
• It is not selective. There is no “we usually do this”. If we make an exception (e.g. when a primary source is paywalled), we say so on the page itself.