Introduction
Bitgold is a Canadian financial technology company that provides the general public the opportunity to conduct financial transactions as well as hold monetary savings in physical gold bullion, in a manner which confers safety and security to the transactions. In other words, Bitgold offers the user the opportunity to buy, sell and spend physical gold.
Why Bitgold?
Gold has long been held as a store of value for generations untold. To understand this concept, look at the value of gold when measured with other currencies over the last 15 years. From just about $300 an ounce at the turn of the 21st century, gold is now above $1,080 an ounce. This means that an investment of $30,000 into gold bars in 2001 would now be worth at least $126,000.
This clearly shows the benefit of owning gold. Today, an individual can own gold by buying it, or by selling goods and services and getting paid in gold using Bitgold’s services. Gold can also be owned if it is transferred from one party to another as in the case of remittances. These are the services offered by Bitgold and those who use these services can benefit from owning physical gold through this medium.
Services Offered by Bitgold
Bitgold offers the following services to consumers:
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Money transfer and remittance services.
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Automated payment services.
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Gold savings account service.
Bitgold offers a means of transferring money across borders in a manner which is fast, secure and cheaper than conventional money transfer services. Bitgold can be used as a hedge to protect against exchange rate fluctuations.
Users and merchants alike can use the Bitgold platform to send and receive payments for goods and services. It is possible for merchants to choose if they want to receive their payments in gold, or in physical currency by conversion.
Bitgold also offers a means of saving money in the form of gold as a means of asset protection. There are no minimums to start with and there are no hidden fees. Pricing is set to within 1% of the price of spot gold and the gold savings can be conducted by sending currency using a credit/debit card or via ACH money transfers. Bitgold’s recurrent savings plan is aptly named “Gold that Grows”. All the user needs to do is to plug in a payment method to the online Bitgold account, set a standing order to deposit funds at periodic intervals, and the Bitgold platform does the rest.
It is therefore possible to save money towards future projects such as the college education fund for children, without fear of currency depreciation and inflationary pressure.
How Bitgold Works
To be able to accept payments on its platform from various sources, Bitgold has partnered with many of the world’s key payment platform providers such as card processing companies, e-wallet providers and banks. Therefore, Bitgold accepts a range of credit and debit cards as well as e-wallets such as Skrill, China UnionPay, Interac and JCB. Bitgold also accepts Bitcoin deposits.
On opening a Bitgold account, every user is assigned a vault. These vaults are actually physical vaults where the physical gold bullion is stored. The vaults are located in London, Zurich, Dubai, Toronto, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. The user chooses a vault location and can add funds to the vault using any of the various methods available. The rate of conversion of currency to gold is presently $35.95 to a gram of gold. This figure is subject to change.
After gold has been added to a vault, the user can do the following with it:
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Send gold
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Make a payment
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Redeem the gold at a later date via bank wire, physical gold or using the GoldMoney Prepaid MasterCard which can be used for online or offline shopping.
The prepaid MasterCard can be redeemed in USD, Euros or GBP, and is available only in certain locations.
Advantages of Bitgold
Perhaps the greatest advantage that Bitgold confers to its users is that it enables users to store up their money in the form of gold. Bitgold has a patent pending on its new gold bullion storage system: the Bitgold 10g gold cubes.
Preservation of value is therefore the greatest advantage that Bitgold offers. Accessibility to the product is also a second advantage, as Bitgold enables the average individual to own this precious commodity with as little as just over $35 a gram.
How Safe is Bitgold?
The issue of the safety of Bitgold is an issue many prospective users would want assurances on. There is always the concern of what happens to all the gold holdings of Bitgold customers in the most unlikely event that the company goes under. All gold holdings are segregated and are held on a one-to-one ratio. The gold holdings are therefore fully reserved and inaccessible to the Bitgold team. Any unlikely event of closure or company bankruptcy will therefore leave the gold bullion in the vaults untouched, and all those who own gold will eventually be paid via a court appointed administrator.
All gold on the Bitgold platform is assayed and stamped .9995 pure (99.95%) or better bullion-grade gold, obtained from an approved list of Refiners and Assayers whose gold bullion meet the minimum standards and specification set by the London Bullion Market Association (“LBMA”) or the New York Mercantile Commodity Exchange, Inc. (“COMEX”). This assures all users on the Bitgold platform that the gold they own or use is of the highest quality possible.