[ FAQ

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FAQ

  • General Knowledge
    • What is AgAu?

      AgAu is a Peer-to-Peer, Electronic Money System backed by Silver (Ag) and Gold (Au) in Switzerland”

      AgAu is the digital representation of inspected, audited and allocated London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Good Delivery standard Gold and Silver bars stored in secured private vaulting facilities in Switzerland.

    • What is AgAu backed by?

      AgAu tokens are backed by 1 gram of physical and allocated gold (Au) for AGLD and 1 gram of silver (Ag) for ASLV.

    • What is blockchain technology?
      Blockchain is a type of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in which transactions are recorded with an immutable cryptographic identifier called a hash. It is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system. A blockchain is essentially a digital ledger of transactions duplicated and distributed across the entire network of devices participating in the said blockchain. Each block in the chain contains a number of transactions, and every time a new transaction occurs, a record of that transaction is added to every participant’s ledger. Because the data is distributed over many independent devices, the blockchain eliminated the single point of failure typical of a centralised system.
    • Why is AgAu using blockchain?

      Because AgAu is developed as an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token. It gives it a portability across the Ethereum blockchain’s extensive network of wallets, exchanges, lenders and other platforms.

      AgAu gold and silver tokens solve the challenges of today’s monetary system by allowing secure and portable access to gold for all.

    • What is Ethereum?

      Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. It is home to digital money, global payments, and applications.

    • What is Smart Contract?

      Smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code. The code and the agreements contained therein exist across a distributed, decentralized blockchain network.

       

    • What is KYC and AML processes?

      KYC is a more specific term that refers to the verification of customer identities before permitting a transaction to take place. AML refers to a wider set of measures designed to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, and criminal financing.

    • Does AgAu use KYC and AML processes?

      Yes, AgAu intends to use KYC and AML processes for all counterparties directly involved with the Company

    • What is Matching Ledger?

      The Matching Ledger is publicly available at all times allowing anyone to verify the integrity of the system by proving that no token was created without having first proven the assets. The Matching Ledger therefore ensures that the number of tokens outstanding balances with the correspondent assets 1:1.

    • What is allocated gold/silver and what are its implications?

      Allocated gold/silver  is gold/silver owned outright by an investor and is stored, under a safekeeping or custody arrangement, in a professional bullion vault. It is the property of the investor. Whereas the unallocated gold/silver is the property of the bank.

       

      Most of the precious metals trading today are not allocated. Unallocated gold is often used in the case of gold funds, ETFs, or synthetic products composed of financial derivatives. Unallocated gold represents a position with a counterpart where the client is a creditor of the gold but does not own it. By contrast, allocated gold is the direct ownership with no accounting liability. Meaning that the token holders have full control of the assets and no counterpart risk.

    • Did AgAu undergo the system checks?

      The system was developed by industry experts and has been audited externally by Intellica Group, and Pessimistic and Solidified Technology solutions.

      Other security checks as well as operational risks checks, such as penetration tests, were performed before the go-live of the system.

       

    • Do AgAu Tokens represent the direct co-ownership?

      Yes, in 2020, AgAu has secured the legal opinion that AgAu Tokens in their entirety are a direct co-ownership of the assets and therefore should not be considered a security under Swiss Law. This has been stated in indicative response from the Swiss Financial Supervisory Authority FINMA dated June, 2020.

    • Who can buy and sell AgAu Tokens?

      AgAu tokens will be available to trade between crypto wallets through exchanges and decentralized applications. Like any other ERC-20 token, owners will be able to store them in Ethereum wallets.

    • How are AgAu Tokens regulated?

      AgAu uses the public Ethereum Blockchain platform. Ethereum Blockchain is the most decentralized Blockchain with the largest ecosystem.

      Blockchain technology uses cryptographic security to secure access and transactions within the distributed network. Transactions are verified in a matter of seconds in an immutable ledger that provides full transparency and security to all participants.

      The Matching Ledger is publicly available at all times allowing anyone to verify the integrity of the system by proving that no AgAu token has been created without having first proven the assets. The Matching Ledger therefore ensures that the number of tokens outstanding balances with the correspondent assets 1:1.

      In order to further ensure security AgAu uses the Smart Contracts. A Smart Contract is developed with predefined conditions in the form of electronic contracts written in code. Straight through processing of Smart Contract allows to automatically update and execute payments or actions when all specific conditions are met.

    • Can AgAu token holders redeem their coins for physical metal (Gold & Silver)?

      Yes. Once the amount of AgAu tokens owned are equal to the entire gold / silver bar, the customer can redeem their tokens for a physical gold / silver bar. The user can request a redemption with AgAu to receive his physical property and can verify empirically for himself that the bar he redeemed was part of the AgAu system and has been marked (as redeemed) in the AgAu Matching Ledger. As a result, AgAu gold and silver tokens solve the challenges of today’s monetary system by allowing secure and portable access to precious metals for all.

    • Where is AgAu registered?

      AgAu is found and based in Zug, Switzerland.

    • Is it possible to get in touch with AgAu through other platforms?

      Yes. AgAu is active on several different platforms such as; Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Telegram, Instagram and Youtube. Feel free to reach out to us through any of these platforms and remember to follow our pages for further company news! For general queries email us at: [email protected]

  • Fees and Storage
    • Why is AgAu charging storage fees?

      The storage fee is the proof that the gold is allocated. AgAu tokens allow for direct ownership of only allocated precious metals. This is an absolute priority for AgAu, as our mission is to offer the most “primitive” base layer to own pure quality (LBMA) physical precious metals directly.

      There cannot be direct ownership of allocated precious metals without storage costs. In the case of some of our competitors claiming “allocated precious metals” the ownership structure is not direct but through a company or trust. Thus, the precious metals are leased, swapped or collateralized in order to produce income covering the cost of storage. Therefore, representing a position with a counterpart where the client is a creditor of the gold not the owner.

    • What is the storage fee?

      Storage fee is the payment for the service of storing the physical metals and it costs 0.2% per year.

    • How does the storage fee work?

      The storage fee is taken on the basis of how much time the gold token has been held in order to be as just as possible with a “pay per usage”.

      • Wallets are debited automatically of their storage fees and users can see their available balances
      • Upon sending or receiving transactions, a storage fee is calculated and taken for the time lapsed since the last transaction timestamp.
      • For the case of accounts that only rarely transact, a function will allow to loop over accounts subtracting the pending storage fee and resetting their timestamp of the last transaction
    • What is the transaction fee?

      Similar to the gas fee paid on ethereum, AgAu has a transaction fee to ensure the continuous support and development of the system.  The transaction fee rate fluctuates within a range defined by the higher bound and the lower bound.

      • The Higher Bound will initially be set at: 0.399%
      • The Lower bound will initially be set at: 0.1%
      • The transaction fee rate is updated dynamically every month within the range defined by higher and lower bounds.
    • Where are the physical metals (Gold & Silver) represented by AgAu Tokens stored?

      AgAu tokens underlying will be stored and insured in secured vaults primarily in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Our Partners are listed in the “Partners” section.

  • Support and Troubleshooting
    • Is it possible to buy AgAu Tokens with fiat money?

      Yes.  AgAu tokens will be listed on the Ethereum platform and can be bought and transferred by fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto exchanges. Users will be able to store the Tokens in their Ethereum wallets.

    • How can I ensure maximum security of my account?

      As AgAu we have put great security measures to keep your account safe. For account logins, we follow a 2-Factor Authentication process with SMS and email confirmation. We recommend you to keep your AgAu registered email on a separate device other than your phone with the registered number which you receive SMS codes, this way you can achieve maximum security.

    • How does AgAu system work?

      The AgAu System and approved partners can mint AgAu tokens and request a Token Generation Event (TGE). The user has access to 7 layers of certification proving that the assets are backed by allocated LBMA quality precious metals: Tokens can be created when a set of specific requirements are fulfilled (Proof of Asset Authentication process). The physical assets must be proven before any token issuance by using a Proof of Asset (POA) protocol displayed in the Matching Ledger

    • How can the users prove that the assets are backed by LBMA quality allocated physical precious metals?

      Through AgAu’s Matching Ledger, AgAu establishes the direct property of the physical metal which makes it much easier for users to audit and inspect their own possessions. Through the AgAu System, the user has 7 layers of certification proving that the assets are backed by allocated LBMA quality physical precious metals.

    • What are the 7 layers of certification proving?
      1. The first layer is that during the Token Generation Ceremony (TGC), all assets need to be proven by the Vault issuing a Stock report
      2. An independent auditor or assayer must certify both the quality and quantity.
      3. A notary must sign therefore providing an extra independent party to reduce operational risk as well as making sure that the legal ownership resides with the token holder
      4. A periodic audit will be conducted to ensure the integrity of the data and physical holdings.
      5. All data is posted in the AgAu Matching Ledger via an IPFS System (decentralised database) and the hash of the files (unique reference) is posted to the blockchain, pinned permanently preventing any possible tampering and rendering them immutable and verifiable.
      6. We will also be working towards “an open-door policy” to allow users to appoint third party auditors of their choice to inspect and verify holdings at their own cost.
      7. Finally, as an ultimate verification, the user can request a redemption with AgAu to receive his physical property and can verify empirically for himself that the bar he redeemed was part of the AgAu system and has been marked (as redeemed) in the AgAu Matching Ledger.
    • How AgaAu ensures financial privacy?

      While all blockchain transactions are published and transparent in the public ledger, the ownership of the account /crypto wallet is virtually anonymous, emulating the banking secrecy available in certain jurisdictions.

      Moreover, the distributed ledger technology is efficient in eliminating central points of failure. AgAu tokens based on gold and silver are self-sovereign; no government has authority over all gold and silver nor do the tokens need a centralised banking infrastructure such as SWIFT or SEPA to operate.

    • Are the precious metals protected of confiscation?

      AgAu is based in Switzerland which is a rare case of direct democracy. This makes the country the safest jurisdiction in terms of private property laws and constitutional protection.

      At AgAu we believe that in order to mitigate political tail risk such as confiscation or prohibition, the choice of a neutral jurisdiction with a rule of law and direct democracy is a guarantee to preserve private property.