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NEWS

Safest bet

is in fintech

by Michael Washbourne

Jon Deane

hile many market commentators will use the term “safe one of those is a blockchain solution called the Perth Mint
Whaven” to describe the protection gold offers investors Gold Token (PMGT) – because they are fractionable, it
during times of economic uncertainty, InfiniGold chief means you can actually spend it. So, we’re working with a
executive Jon Deane prefers to take a different approach. number of providers where PMGT would be incorporated
“I don’t think safe haven is the best way to put it,” Deane into their digital wallet and then people can go and actually
told GMJ. spend gold in the shop to buy goods and services with their
Mastercard or Visa card.”
“Historically people have looked to gold to be correlated with
risk assets. What I think gold has proven and continues to InfiniGold launched PMGT in October last year as the
prove is that in the medium term it’s potentially a safe haven first digital gold token on a public blockchain backed by
versus risk assets, but in the short term in can be as volatile government-guaranteed gold. A year earlier, the company’s
as – if not more volatile than – some of the risk assets that technology was integral in developing The Perth Mint’s
we witnessed during the initial sell-off in March. widely acclaimed GoldPass mobile app via which investors
can instantly and securely buy, sell and transfer physical
“I see gold’s role as more of a stored value…all this
gold using digital certificates.
uncertainty around how we’re going to manage the next
economic cycle means that you want to be in assets which Deane said while the security of digital tokens was superior
are stores of value and gold has obviously proven through to that of a paper contract, he conceded recent negative
the test of time that it is a store of value.” publicity around blockchain technologies meant the industry
still had some work to do to convince investors otherwise.
After more than a decade as managing director and head
of commodities trading in Asia-Pacific for JP Morgan Chase “Certainly, the amount of negative publicity associated with
& Co, Deane started in his new role at the helm of physical blockchain solutions through 2018 and 2019, where there
commodity digitisation firm InfiniGold in March. was definitely a large number of scams, probably put the
industry back five years,” he said.
While the timing amid the early stages of a global health
pandemic was far from ideal, the associated economic “That’s probably the biggest hurdle, getting people to
uncertainty provided Deane with vindication that InfiniGold’s recognise that you’re not investing in some hyped-up project
technology solutions – which are licenced to leading precious here, you’re actually just investing in gold and the solution
metals refinery The Perth Mint – have a major role to play for you to hold the gold is actually more secure than what
in helping investors navigate their way through during these you currently do, and it’s also cheaper to hold it in this way.
periods of market malaise. “Getting people to recognise that will take some time, but
“On the tech side of things, what I think this all leads to is considering you’ve got mainstream financial institutions now
people will buy gold, so they’ll buy a bar, but they can only adopting it and building solutions for them to hold it in their
use it as a store of value, they still have to trade it back into current client accounts, I think long term people probably
a currency,” Deane said. won’t even realise they’re holding it in a token, they’ll just
think they’re holding gold.”
“What technology solutions like what we provide do – and

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