THE QUESTION THIS TOOL ANSWERS
Did the same CFTC annual archive remain byte-for-byte stable?
GoldObserve retained 4 versions of fut_disagg_txt_2026.zip. The first and latest snapshots differ in byte length and SHA-256. The normalized comparison below shows 2 added gold report rows, 0 revised existing rows and 0 deleted rows across 2 retained transitions.
The underlying CFTC dataset covers GOLD - COMMODITY EXCHANGE INC., contract market code 088691, with a 100 troy ounces contract unit. Position dates, publication timing and archive retrieval timing remain separate clocks.
NORMALIZED GOLD-ROW DIFF
What changed inside the retained archive?
These comparisons are limited to CFTC contract 088691 and FutOnly rows. A new report date is an added observation; an existing date with changed fields is a revision candidate. Neither is automatically assigned a cause.
| Change | Report date | Report date | Position date | Open interest | Producer long | Producer short | Swap long | Swap short | Managed money long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| added | 2026-08-04 | 2026-08-04 | 260804 | 371551 | 15738 | 34594 | 20753 | 228388 | 139809 |
Transition evidence hash: 40b6270b4ff0e5ea4cf7fe48960d37c05440c5776ff6cf6ab222d94eb2c9fa46. A normalized archive diff identifies file-level additions, deletions and field changes in the retained gold rows. It does not establish an official correction reason, official publication timestamp or a market signal.
RETAINED ARCHIVE TIMELINE
4 snapshots, one official archive name
| Snapshot | First observed | Last retrieved | Bytes | SHA-256 | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version 1 | 2026-08-04T14:51:17.5424534Z | 2026-08-04T15:23:31.4107864Z | 1,445,140 | 439517cfc34e72239b11b19e51eb52e7b6695e7b73c2b926c65b87349a84c069 | Earlier retained version |
| Version 2 | 2026-08-08T12:04:16.3616043Z | 2026-08-08T12:04:16.3616043Z | 1,494,620 | 84bc5e876efd1c22ab1330385c8779cac25e287d4a27e346d1559888c4d02aa9 | Earlier retained version |
| Version 3 | 2026-08-15T00:50:38.9661454Z | 2026-08-15T00:50:38.9661454Z | 1,544,417 | 38e104b6ba1a1d1d017e37fb7a93e7604e0a72d30f913ee9c3a8d3e4d6026c5e | Earlier retained version |
| Version 4 | 2026-08-25T10:34:04.0256062Z | 2026-08-25T10:34:04.0256062Z | 1,589,772 | 9becfa9e237cfb177fb2e61959094c58ba20d541790e8b1a64a65058d8ae1baa | Current retained version |
WHAT IS PROVEN
Archive drift is evidence about the file, not a story about the market
Fact
The same official annual archive URL has 4 retained SHA-256 values and 4 recorded byte lengths.
Row evidence
The normalized gold comparison finds 2 added report dates and no changed or deleted existing gold report rows in these retained transitions.
Market boundary
A file or row change is not a change in gold price, open interest, trader intent, net positioning or future direction.
SOURCE AND METHOD
Keep source rights, retrieval evidence and interpretation separate
- Official CFTC archive — Disaggregated Futures Only, dataset 72hh-3qpy.
- CFTC public data policy and release schedule establish the source and rights context.
- f_year.txt CSV; exact CFTC gold contract 088691 and FutOnly rows; rows keyed by Report_Date_as_YYYY-MM-DD.
- Compare retained official archive SHA-256, byte length and GoldObserve first-observed timestamps; do not infer row-level changes without a normalized archive diff.
- A normalized archive diff identifies file-level additions, deletions and field changes in the retained gold rows. It does not establish an official correction reason, official publication timestamp or a market signal.
- The archive evidence manifest hash is
dc70a2d4a91f1674272ab718b044d652c92aa07ced489f12421ee9b69c40a312; the normalized diff hash is40b6270b4ff0e5ea4cf7fe48960d37c05440c5776ff6cf6ab222d94eb2c9fa46.
CONTINUE THE EVIDENCE CHAIN
Use the CFTC tools for reported positions and this ledger for source stability
CFTC ARCHIVE FAQ
Questions about this version ledger
What does a CFTC archive version mean here?
It is a retained SHA-256 snapshot of the same official annual Disaggregated Futures Only gold ZIP. This page compares the retained gold rows by report date and labels additions, deletions and field changes without assigning a cause.
Are these official publication timestamps?
No. The CFTC archive URL and public-data policy are official source evidence. The first-observed and last-retrieved times are GoldObserve observations of availability, not official publication timestamps.
Does archive drift predict gold prices?
No. Archive metadata helps reproducibility and data operations. CFTC positions describe reported futures exposure, while this page does not turn file changes into a price signal or forecast.
Why is the page limited to one annual archive?
The 4 retained versions belong to one same-name archive. Mixing different annual archives would answer a different question and could be mistaken for revision evidence.