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Digital Gold Currency




Digital gold currencies are issued by a number of companies, each of which provides a system that enabled users to pay each other in units that held the same value as Gold Bullion . These competing providers issue independent Currency , which normally carries the same name as their company. In terms of the most popular providers, E-gold has the greatest number of users and GoldMoney holds the greatest quantity of bullion (as of January 2007).

As of January 2007, DGC providers held in excess of 9.5 tonnes of gold as disclosed reserves, which is worth approximately $184 million.


FEATURES


Asset protection

is, according to their website, "100% backed by gold"]]
Unlike Fractional-reserve Banking , DGCs (such as e-gold and GoldMoney) hold 100% of clients' funds in reserves with a Store Of Value . Proponents of DGC systems contend that deposits are protected against Inflation , Devaluation and other possible economic risks inherent in Fiat Currencies . These risks include the Monetary Policy of countries or territories, which are perceived by proponents to be harmful to the value of paper currency. It is also theoretically much harder for governments and/or creditors to seize or confiscate digital gold currency from someone, as most DGC companies are incorporated in Offshore Financial Centre s.


Bullion investing

See Also: Gold as an investment
Silver as an investment


Digital currencies backed by gold are the most popular, although e-gold, e-Bullion and e-dinar also provide digital currency backed by Silver , while GoldMoney and Crowne Gold also provide storage in silver. Other digital silver currencies include the ELibertyDollar and Phoenix Silver . In addition to gold and silver, e-gold supplies digital currency backed by Platinum and Palladium . Gold, silver, platinum and palladium each have recognised international currency codes under ISO 4217 .


Exchanging fiat currency

Some providers, like e-gold, do not sell DGC directly to clients. In the case of an e-gold account, currency must be bought and sold via a Digital Currency Exchanger (DCE). According to their website the reason they do this is so there can be no debt or contingent liabilities associated with the business, making e-gold Ltd. absolutely free of any financial risk. DGCs are known as Private Currency as they are not issued by Government s.


Non-reversible transactions

Unlike the Credit Card industry, DGC issuers generally do not bundle services such as repudiation. Thus having Transactions reversed, even in case of a legitimate error, unauthorized spend, or failure of a vendor to supply goods is not possible. In this respect, a DGC spend is more akin to a Cash transaction while PayPal transfers, for example, could be considered more similar to credit card transactions.


Universal currency

Proponents claim that DGC offers a truly global and borderless World Currency system which is independent of Exchange Rate variations. Gold, silver, platinum and palladium each have recognised international currency codes under ISO 4217 .


RISKS

Digital gold currency is a form of Commodity Money as deposits are stored in gold units rather than fiat currency. The Purchasing Power of DGC therefore fluctuates in relation to the gold price. If the price of gold increases, then an account becomes more valuable, but if the price of gold falls, so does the value of the account.

There are no specific and Liberty Reserve have become members of the association.

Following 27 April 2007, the , GoldMoney , E-Bullion and other DGCs continue to operate normally,


PROVIDERS

Comparison of DGCs (as of January 2007):


CRITICISMS

DGC providers and exchangers have been accused of being a medium for fraudulent {Link without Title} .

Many DGC providers do not disclose the amount of bullion stored (see table) or allow independent external bullion audits, raising concerns that such companies do not maintain a 100% Reserve Ratio , or their currency is entirely virtual and not backed by physical gold at all.


SEE ALSO




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