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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday January 24 2018, @09:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the gold-encrusted-1s-and-0s dept.

Australian Broadcast Corporation reports

Australia's biggest gold refiner, the Perth Mint, is developing its own cryptocurrency backed by physical precious metals.

The ambitious plan, which is subject to a confidentiality agreement, will make it easier for consumers to buy gold.

[...] For the Perth Mint, the need to bring investors back to precious metals after a boom in alternative investments such as cryptocurrencies posed an opportunity, according to chief executive Richard Hayes.

"I think as the world moves through times of increasing uncertainty, you're seeing people look for alternate offerings," he said.
But Mr Hayes said the volatility of some of the current cryptocurrencies meant they did not suit all investors.

And that is where a gold-backed offering may fit.

"With a crypto-gold or a crypto-precious metals offering, what you will see is that gold is actually backing it," Mr Hayes said.

"So it will have all the benefits of something that is on a distributed ledger that settles very, very quickly, that is easy to trade, but is actually backed by precious metals, so there is actually something behind it, something backing it."

What do you see here: some golden cryptocurrency dust sprinkled around or a decentralized ledger of precious metal transactions?


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  • (Score: 3, Touché) by FatPhil on Wednesday January 24 2018, @11:41PM (8 children)

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Wednesday January 24 2018, @11:41PM (#627455) Homepage
    I can buy and sell gold instantly at the drop of a hat, my bids and offers are confirmed, cryptographically signed, instantly as soon as a match is made. I know it is in the vault because there's such a thingas an independent audit, one I can peruse myself at any time.

    This is just another inane "but on a blockchain, so new and better" invention that really is studips enough to deserve patenting.
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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday January 25 2018, @03:54AM (7 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 25 2018, @03:54AM (#627535) Journal

    Except:
    - you describe transaction between you and the vault operator and...
    - ... do not account for transactions in which your transfer part of you certificates to a third party without the vault operator to be involved (to auth the certificate and record the new ownership)

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    • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday January 25 2018, @05:52AM (5 children)

      by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Thursday January 25 2018, @05:52AM (#627567) Homepage
      But that's not the problem. I want the vault involved - that's what I'm paying them for. I don't want to take delivery - I don't want the gold to lose its certified Fine status (again, audited), and secure delivery would be about 10 storage (including insurance) fees.

      My way's better in almost every respect apart from having the oooh-shiny visible to me.
      --
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      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday January 25 2018, @06:21AM (4 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 25 2018, @06:21AM (#627573) Journal

        But that's not the problem. I want the vault involved

        You want the value involved as the:
        - original emitter of the certificates (cryptocoins) and...
        - ... continue to be the storage place for the equiv precious metal that backs the coin(s) in your possession
        (- ... maybe the original seller of those coins, but not necessarily the single place where one can obtain already emitted coins).

        I don't understand why you'd want the vault being involved in every transfer of the coins (backed by gold) that may happen between you and another third party?
        This is where the blockchain replicated ledger offers an advantage, you contact anyone that (based on her/his own) copy of the ledger can guarantee that the seller of a coin is the rightful owner and that that coin is a legitimately emitted one.

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        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday January 26 2018, @10:21AM (3 children)

          by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Friday January 26 2018, @10:21AM (#628186) Homepage
          > You want...
          > ... you'd want ...

          Whaaat the fucking fuck?!!?!? I've never said I wanted any such things. Please reread my posts for comprehension this time.
          --
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          • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday January 26 2018, @10:50AM (2 children)

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 26 2018, @10:50AM (#628201) Journal

            Then you aren't interested at all of using precious metals as money, and a classic vault is just enough for you.
            Why do you deny that others may want something more and their want/need may be legitimate?

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            • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday January 26 2018, @11:20AM (1 child)

              by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Friday January 26 2018, @11:20AM (#628210) Homepage
              Yet again, you're putting words into my mouth.

              Feel free to continue your argument with yourself, you seem perfectly capable of contributig both sides endlessly.
              --
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              • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday January 26 2018, @12:40PM

                by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 26 2018, @12:40PM (#628230) Journal

                Then I really don't get you position to the gold backed cryptocurrency. And we can stop here indeed.

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                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Thursday January 25 2018, @05:55AM

      by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Thursday January 25 2018, @05:55AM (#627568) Homepage
      A better criticism of my preferred method would be "auditors have proved themselves to be incompetent and even criminally negligent in recent decades, your trust is misplaced".
      --
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