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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?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by ElizabethGreene on Thursday January 25 2018, @01:25AM (1 child)
There are currently no precious-metals backed currencies, crypto or otherwise. The country or company that creates one and resists the siren song of debasement will make a great deal of money. If Perth Mint does it in an open and transparent way with irreversible immalleable transactions and offers physical redemption of the digital coins then it is a fantastic idea.
It has a serious problem. If it gets popular, and it will, you'll start to see it used to clear large international transactions. The country with the currency currently used for that will not permit that to happen. They can't; the effect on their economy will be devastating. Wars have been fought for far less.
Full disclosure: I own a small quantity of precious metal bullion from Perth Mint, mostly silver, not enough worth stealing.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday January 26 2018, @11:23AM
I do get the feeling that xkcd's "standards" applies as much to currency as it does to technology.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves