Vaultoro.com launches a Bitcoin gold exchange, enabling users to instantly convert their bitcoins to gold and back, "100% bank independently."
Vaultoro launched its trading platform on Friday, February 13 exclusively for Bitcoin and gold, combining the oldest store of value and the newest currency in the world.
The company explained in a release:
"Gold protects people against the price volatility of bitcoin without them ever having to go back into fiat currencies, which is attractive to a large number of the Bitcoin community."
Co-founder Joshua Scigala, was financially hit by the collapse of MtGox at the end of 2013, which further led him to build a fully auditable Bitcoin exchange.
"Transparency and having glass books is the number one priority for Vaultoro," said Scigala.
He further added:
"The blockchain has given us the perfect tools to enable total transparency, easily giving creditors absolute proof of solvency. Sadly the Bitcoin community needed the MtGox fiasco to force a change in mindset. [...] In a post Mt Gox world, the free market is demanding higher transparency and Vaultoro is an example of the next generation of fully transparent exchanges."
Security-wise, Vaultoro has three wallets types: a hot wallet that is hosted online and used for daily trades, a warm wallet for auditing purpose that holds an amount of Bitcoin slightly above the amount of Bitcoin in the hot wallet, and finally, mutisignature cold wallets, which hold the majority of users' funds.
The warm wallet address and the cold wallets addresses are public, and listed in user's dashboard. Accounts are listed in the "Audit" page through a unique secret identity code, which ensures users privacy.
Users' gold is stored in vaults located in Switzerland, which are operated by one of the leading physical precious metals dealers, Pro Aurum. Pro Aurum will report every week to Vaultoro on how much gold members hold. The report will be weekly updated and made available to users.
Furthermore, BDO International, the fifth largest accountancy network in the world, will conduct an audit every six months. BDO International will control the vaults by going through rigorous security protocols and issue reports attesting that Pro Aurum holds exactly the right amount of gold in their vaults, according to the company's FAQ page.
Physical gold delivery is possible for users that don't live in a country that is currently on the EU list of sanctioned countries, notably Iran, Syria and North Korean, and for users that are not on the EU list of financially sanctioned persons.
Users need to be fully verified by Vaultoro and must incur costs related to delivery, as well as smelting and form, since the vault stores good delivering bars of 11-13 kg.
Watch Vaultoro's video presentation:
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