The Perth Mint Gold Token (PMGT), issued by InfiniGold, is being backed 1:1 by GoldPass certificates issued by the mint.
The token is digitised gold, allowing users to acquire and have entitlement over Western Australian government-guaranteed gold stored at the Perth Mint.
The currency has aimed to offer institutional investors a competitive alternative to traditional gold ETFs, with the additional benefits of real-time trading and settlement enabled by blockchain technology.
“With the Perth Mint as custodian of the underlying physical gold that backs PGMT, buyers will be able to access a secure and reliable token representing the strongest asset class to date – gold,” Andreas Ruf, chief executive, InfiniGold said.
Richard Hayes, CEO of the Perth Mint added the digitisation of gold via a public ledger is a “natural progression for the global commodity markets.”
“It will promote gold as a mainstream asset, enhance its accessibility, and offer greater liquidity, transparency and auditability of the real assets backing this type of token,” Mr Hayes said.
Digitisation of the Perth Mint’s inventory began in 2018 when mobile app GoldPass was launched.
Through the app, investors can buy, sell and transfer physical gold via digital certificates.
Each certificate is backed by physical gold stored in the mint’s network of central bank grade vaults, also guaranteed by the Western Australian government.
InfiniGold noted the GoldPass platform will enable real-time liquidity of the new token.
It is looking to allow app users to sell back to the Perth Mint, or take delivery of their holdings by exchanging their certificates for a range of the mint’s gold products, including LBMA London Good Delivery bars.
If approved in its final regulatory consultation, this will make PMGT directly tradable against traditional gold products, including gold ETFs, CME gold futures and physical XAU.
PMGT will also offer an alternative to US dollar-backed stablecoins, InfiniGold reported, offering owners transparency, credit quality, risk diversification and hedging against market volatility as the token represents physical gold – historically a much more stable and well-understood store of value.
Further, self-labelled neo-investment bank TCM Capital has been advising the project.
Its CEO Jon Deane, former JP Morgan managing director commented: “The involvement of the Perth Mint as the largest refinery in the world and a leading exporter of gold, ensures that the product offers both the scalability and credibility that the market clearly needs.”
TCM Capital chairman Steve Bellotti added: “InfiniGold’s PMGT is perfectly positioned, via the blockchain, to complement the current institutional gold market.”
Ernst & Young worked with InfiniGold to perform a findings and recommendations report on the design effectiveness of the procedures and controls over the PMGT platform.
“We chose to proactively work with EY to implement strong procedures and controls around the PMGT platform well before go live as we know effective management of digital assets risks is critical to our investors and we felt EY were best placed to assist us,” Mr Ruf said.
