BitPay Integration Lets Users Buy Gold With Cryptocurrency

OneGold, an online marketplace for buying, selling and redeeming precious metals, announced a partnership with BitPay on Jan. 13 that will allow crypto users to purchase gold and other valuable metals on Android and iOS devices. 

Through the integration with BitPay — a leading Bitcoin payment service provider that currently supports over 30,000 merchants, including Microsoft and Avnet — OneGold’s new mobile app will accept payments in Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), and various stablecoins. In addition, BitPay customers will save 2% when using the service on OneGold.com. 

OneGold CEO Kenneth Lewis told Cointelegraph that the partnership will make wealth preservation available to everyone at the lowest cost of ownership available on the market:

Cryptocurrency holders are a natural fit as precious metals investors and can utilize OneGold to balance their investment portfolio. Using BitPay, cryptocurrency holders can quickly buy gold or silver at institutional pricing, save 2%, and create a nice balanced mix of gold, silver, and cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrency and its relationship to gold

Bitcoin has often been compared to gold, with Bloomberg recently reporting that it is equivalent to digital gold, as there is a correlation between the two that extends deeper than both being safe haven, limited assets. 

In a new report, Bloomberg market analyst Mike McGlone characterizes 2020 as a prime year for safe-haven assets, suggesting that movements in gold will act as a proxy for BTC’s price performance. 

McGlone highlights the recent price increase in Bitcoin’s value following the U.S.-sanctioned killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Shortly after this event, both the price of Bitcoin and gold went up. 

McGlone noted, “The precious metal reached a seven-year high of $1,600, while its digital protege followed, netting a 20% rise.”

Notably, stablecoin operator Paxos has created a crypto-asset redeemable for physical gold. Paxos launched PAX Gold (PAXG), a gold-backed ERC-20 token in September 2019, claiming that the product is the first crypto-asset redeemable for physical gold. 

According to a report, each PAXG token will be back by one fine troy ounce of London Good Delivery gold. Token holders reportedly own the gold it represents, but the tokens can be moved like any other ERC-20 assets, which Paxos notes is simpler than shipping gold.

Paxos’ stablecoin resembles the service model provided by OneGold, which was founded by precious metals dealer APMEX and alternative asset manager Sprott. The company provides millions of global clients with the option to digitally hold precious metals. When OneGold users are ready to take possession, they can convert their precious metal holdings into physical metals, which are shipped by APMEX the same business day.