Blockchain: A Swiss stablecoin backed by physical gold

New stage for the project Gold DAO launched in Neuchâtel. Blockchain tokens backed by physical gold have been issued on the ICP blockchain, each of these GLDT representing 0.01 grams of gold. As a reminder, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) was set up by the Neuchâtel-based company DAO Link in 2023. It had raised the equivalent of 12 million francs in ICP tokens, the largest collection ever made on the blockchain. Dfinity. Gold had been purchased and stored at the refiner Metalor, then represented on the blockchain in the form of NFT certificates, thanks to ORIGYN authentication technology, still on ICP.

Thanks to the GLDT token, gold can now be easily bought, sold and transferred, which Dustin Becker, technical director of Gold DAO, welcomes: “We trade with the ease of paper gold, but with the security of physical gold. At any time, the holder of GLDT can request to convert them for their equivalent in physical gold in our reserves. Dustin Becker also imagines that GLDT “could serve as an alternative to dollar stablecoins USDC or USDT when selling riskier assets.” And to estimate “that gold has proven for decades that it remains an asset of choice as a hedge against inflation”.

DAO participants already benefit from a return of more than 15% annually against their ICP investment blocked for eight years. They will now also share the transaction fees generated by GLDT traffic.

Volumes still confidential

Although the technical feasibility of the project has now been demonstrated, the volumes still remain confidential. We are currently talking about 6 kilos stored, 20% of which have been converted into tokens. New quantities will be purchased as needed. A previous attempt in the same direction had been initiated 5 years earlier by the Geneva refiner MKS Pamp which had issued a stablecoin backed by gold, but the mayonnaise did not take effect.

To succeed where others have failed, Gold DAO relies on a strong community and on the bity platform which allows the purchase of GLDT. The determining step will be interoperability, planned for next year, and which will see the token offered – beyond ICP – on blockchains with larger exchange volumes, in particular Ethereum, leader in decentralized finance. It will then enter into international competition with the tokens Pax Gold et Tether Gold, which respectively display daily volumes of 15 and 6 million dollars.

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Joan Plancade is an economic and investigative journalist for Bilan, a critical observer of the Swiss and international tech scene. He is interested in fundamental trends that are reshaping the economy and society. More info

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