Hamiliton-based SafeGold is joining the cryptosphere as it accepts Bitcoin (BTC), Dogecoin (DOGE), Ethereum (ETH), and waiting to swap for long-awaited SafeTitan (STTN). This comes as stablecoins offer crypto investors a way to enter the blockchain-based market while still holding physical assets. Meanwhile, gold is increasingly preferred as a way to preserve value with digital currency.
SafeGold backs-up crypto with gold
The gold-buyer based in Ontario, Canada is one of a few commodity companies making the switch to crypto. SafeGold is among the leaders in jewelry exchanges in Hamilton offering gold, silver, and palladium coins and bars. The company also offers immediate cash for gold jewelry, scrap gold, bars/coins, dental gold, and Royal Canadian Mint coins.
Prices paid for gold of any form vary depending on the karat of the gold. For example, SafeGold currently lists the price for 9K gold at $21.50 per gram, while 24K gold fetches $57.25 per gram. The company also pays $2,119 per ounce of a gold bullion bar and $2,779 for a bullion of palladium. SafeGold also accepts gold or silver coins made in America or Canada.
SafeGold accepts Bitcoin (BTC) but will also be able to accept more coins once traded on exchanges, such as Dogecoin (DOGE), for example. Notably, even the coming cryptocurrency SafeTitan, which is paired to BNB token, can be traded through Binance for a token SafeGold accepts.
Crypto backed by gold
But the Hamilton, Ontario based company is not the only company interested in gold in the crypto market. Kitco Gold from Canada will also issue its own stablecoin. In this case, cryptocurrency traders can purchase Kitco Gold (KGLD) which will represent physical gold held in Kitco’s DirectReserve vaults.
Kitco also specializes in news and data about the value of gold in real-time, which token holders will be able to access. Stably, an stablecoin issuer, is providing smart contract technology for both minting and burning KGLD on the Ethereum (ETH) network. According to the company, using a stablecoin allows investors to have the assurance of a physical asset together with the transparency of a digital asset.
Stablecoins offer accessibility into crypto market
Stablecoins are a type of crypto currency whose value is based on some asset such as fiat currency or commodities. This makes them more stable, hence the name, and less volatile than the constantly changing values of Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH). These cryptocoins have typically been used as ways to buy and sell other crypto currencies by converting fiat money to stablecoin before buying bitcoin, for example. This also helps to avoid the complicated way of converting fiat money to crypto through a bank.
Stablecoins offer companies and organizations looking to get into the crypto space an opportunity to do so with greater assurance. One example is Visa which is using USD Coin to help make crypto transactions easier for cardholders, such as with Dogecoin (DOGE). But as more and more stablecoin is generated backed by U.S. currency, government officials are looking for ways to regulate it. Earlier this year, stablecoins exceeded 100-billion in value, making it a good option for many investors.
The gold standard crypto-craze
While USD Coin (USDC) is backed by American dollars, there are other historic commodities that many users prefer to peg their coins to. In fact, dollars once functioned in a similar fashion, acting as certificates for a certain amount of gold. This gold actually existed and was mostly held by the government. However, you could at any time exchange your certificates for your physical gold.
Bridgewater Associates CIO Ray Dalio believes that gold is the best bet for crypto. “There are certain assets that you want to own to diversify the portfolio, and bitcoin is something like a digital gold,” he told CNBC’s Make It.
But Dalio also fears that one day bitcoin could be restricted or outlawed by the government. And gold, he says, also has a history of being a “storehold of wealth” which can be exchanged for money at a similar value as when it was purchased. The “Gold Standard” is returning, but this time as a way of giving cryptocurrency investors some assurance.