Uphold, a U.S.-based digital finance platform, announced last week global customers can buy a Universal Gold (UPXAU), which is a physical-gold backed token issued by the Universal Protocol Alliance and backed by the Government of Western Australia. UPXAU is free to hold, government-backed, and spendable on a debit card, with no minimum investment required.
“While long considered the ultimate safe-haven asset, and for centuries a primary store of value, gold has always suffered from serious drawbacks as an investment. Typically, gold isn’t easy for most people to access or hold. It’s expensive to store, often incurring monthly custody fees of around 0.4%, and has traditionally been expensive to liquidate and turn into cash.”
Uphold further reported that by launching Universal Gold, Uphold and the Perth Mint have developed a more practical and affordable way of investing in gold for everyone. JP Thieriot, CEO of Uphold, further stated:
“The three killer features of spendability, zero holding costs and government guarantee make this the perfect product at the perfect time – an enormously innovative form of gold for a world beset by COVID-19 and the trillions in currency debasement it will leave in its wake. We genuinely believe that Universal Gold is the best way of holding gold at one of the best times ever for gold investing.”
Uphold’s digital money platform serves more than 2 million customers and has powered more than $6 billion in transactions. The company attracts up to 7,000 new accounts a day and uses blockchain technology, the platform provides consumers and businesses with access to 27 national currencies, 30 digital currencies, six stablecoins, and four precious metals.