Sound Money

Mark started the Gold Pages directory in 2003 which became the largest online directory featuring companies that accept digital currency and digital gold currency. The directory was sold about 5 year ago and the magazine was created shortly after that time. Now in its forth year online, there are forty three back issues of DGC Magazine available on the web site which includes several "special issues". As Mark puts it, he has been "hanging around" the digital gold currency business since the late 1990's.

Q Are you a digital gold "industry expert"?

A NO, not by a long shot. I simply enjoy the honesty of the digital gold business and

the opportunities it offers all users around the world. I watch for trends and write about them.

Q In your opinion, who are the digital gold currency industry experts?

A In the digital gold currency world, where physical gold is held securely in vaults and

digital units are issued against the gold's value... I would say that list of experts

includes but is not limited to:

• Mr. James Turk creator of GoldMoney
• Dr. Douglas Jackson creator of e-gold Ltd.
• Mr. Simon Davis co-creator of Pecunix and Voucher-Safe
• Dr. Zeno Dahinden of e-dinar
• J.P. May 1MDC/e-gold (software developer)
• Sean Trainor from the old Crowne Gold

Additionally, there is an entire team of experts, inventors and creative minds at WebMoney Transfer which I have not listed here. I would include these people as some of the top industry experts in the online payment and digital currency industry, however I don't know all of their names. Peter Darakhvelidze is certainly one of them. WebMoney has been the global leader in non-bank online payments for many years and I expect that will continue. Their company has invented, created and pioneered a dozen or more the top digital currency products and systems in use today. Because of WebMoney's innovative business style and given the dreadful state of the global banking business, I believe WebMoney has an excellent chance at knocking PayPal out of the lead sometime in the next 5 years. The WebMoney Transfer operation reminds me a lot of Google Inc. Both companies are so creative, it is almost thrilling to see what new product they will develop next! So please include the WebMoney team in the list of experts.

Q What company leads the way right now in the Digital Gold Currency business?

A GoldMoney just passed the $2 billion dollar level, so I would have to say they are leading in asset holdings category!

Q What does that mean, exactly?

A GoldMoney(GM) now holds more than $2 billion dollars worth of precious metal and cash under their management. These are value GM is holding, on behalf of customers who have trust in how they operate the company and the business. According to Wikipedia and the world official gold holdings for December 2010, GoldMoney now has more precious metal than many countries. I'd say that puts them in the lead for "digital gold assets in safekeeping".

Here is what really stands out with GoldMoney, the company opened to the public in February 2001 and their holdings passed $1 Billion USD in June of 2010. It took 9 years to gain that first billion in assets. Here we are in June 2011 and GM has already accumulated another billion dollars of value in less than one year. I can't imagine how quickly the GoldMoney asset base will rise to $10 Billion or $100 Billion. That's a lot of zeros. A big congratulations to Mr. Turk for his patented development of such a convenient way to buy, hold and sell precious metal. By the way, Mr. Turk filed his first patent application for "digital gold currency" way back in February of 1993. It was granted in September 1997. I would consider him to be THE industry expert.

Q I also see that GoldMoney is a big advertiser in your magazine? You must be rolling in cash advertising for companies like that...?

A We have been running a full page ad each month featuring GoldMoney for many years now. This is a free service I provide to all industry participants, large or small. All industry ads including the full page or smaller ads are free of charge and always have been.

Q Free industry advertisements? Has that always been your policy?

A Yes. If your company is in this business, you are welcome to include an ad in our monthly magazine at no cost. If you have news or a industry related article you are free to submit it for inclusion in our next issue. We want to expand the industry and offer a convenient place for new users to find quality products

Q How is digital gold currency different from online banking payments?

There are a lot of differences. One of the most powerful features is the instant "transaction and clearing". Global payments are instant and the funds are available to be withdrawn or used moments after the transaction. There is no lengthy bank settlement process. Digital gold transactions a have no foreign currency exchange risk or fees. There are no "banking" delays, the digital gold currency business is always open 24/7...no weekend delays and no holidays.  A person in Japan sending funds to Moscow has no currency exchange. The transaction is simply digital units moving from one another account to another and each balance is denominated in gold by weight.

What you need to understand is that digital gold currency is actual physical gold held in a secure vault on your behalf. The gold is not loaned out, or borrowed against and the company handling your business does not sell options or futures against the physical bullion. There is very little counter party risk. IMHO, this is a SAFE place to keep your money.

Q What about FDIC insured banks?

Banks loan money, borrow money, make bad investments, trade derivatives and even create new dollars out of thin air when originating a loan. While your dollars sit in a bank, the Federal Government is printing more each day and your purchasing power shrinks with each new dollar. Remember when you used to be able to buy a Coke and a Snickers for a dollar? Right now and probably for the entire next decade, gold and silver ARE the safe place to be and digital gold currency is one of the most secure, convenient and inexpensive options for owning them. Digital gold currency is a tangible asset and not some bank's promise to pay you.
Q What is your favorite digital gold currency and why?

A My favorite has changed over the years as the business has changed. Functionality is what I look for in online payments, how easy and useful is the currency in my daily life. E-gold was king and the most useful currency for many years. Now they are gone. WebMoney has always been the top industry work horse and especially lately more and more global companies are accepting WebMoney as a method of payment. We love WebMoney Transfer and would have to say that today, WebMoney is my favorite.

Many people really like Pecunix and that remains popular with a certain group of fans.

It's hard to choose one currency over another as they all can serve different needs and markets. It's kind of like saying, "My favorite vehicle is the Ferrari." but if you are in the desert or off road in the woods, you couldn't drive the Ferrari, you'd need the Range Rover. Quite often, one currency is very good for a few purposes but not optimal for everything. I love GoldMoney but you can't pay for hosting each month with Goldgrams! Another important part of choosing is how you are funding the account or withdrawing your value. You may want to receive a Western Union transfer when selling and not all agents will coordinate that for you, unless you are using a specific currency. WebMoney is especially popular all around the globe. In Panama I can even pay for my prepaid cell phone service using WebMoney.

Each digital currency presents different solutions for online payment problems. Often we need to utilize all of them, not just one, to get through our daily payments.

Another great example is e-dinar. If you are doing business in the Dubai, it may be more convenient to purchase digital gold from them with a local wire. E-dinar also delivers gold dinars and silver dirhams that you can easily buy right from their web site. Gold dinars are small and very reasonably priced, if you can't afford to buy the 100 gram bars from GoldMoney, the gold dinars are an affordable pure gold product. We like e-dinar very much.

Q How do you feel about PayPal?

A PayPal sucks, they are scum.

Q Well don't hold back, how do you really feel?

A Forget about PayPal, the entire business is an extension of the bank and I don't like banks. Anytime a digital payment can be reversed that is bad news for merchants and because credit cards are a big part of their process---that's a open invitation to fraud. I won't use PayPal.

After the financial crisis in 2008 PayPal’s money market fund portfolio was holding $1.63 billion dollars of illiquid assets. HA, a $1.6 Billion. How's that for counter party risk! Who do you suppose paid for that mistake? The company or the customers? HA, no thanks, I'll stick to precious metals.  An ounce of gold, is an ounce of gold no matter who is holding it for you GoldMoney, e-dinar, WebMoney Gold or Pecunix.

Q In December of last year, you wrote a paper on entitled, 2011 Observations on the Digital Currency Industry. What was the paper all about and why did you write it?

A It's more like a bunch of my notes grouped together in one document. The paper talks in general about some of the changes that have occurred in digital currency type payments. That is....non-bank online payments. It's a new and changing industry. The regulators are still trying to keep up with the brainy nerds creating new software. (some of my friends) I just had all that information rolling around in my head and one day decided to write it all down so that others may see it from my point of view. There may be a few misspelled words in there :-) but it's good information and presents the POV of an industry participant.

Q What can digital gold do for consumers and merchants that bank products can't?

A Non bank digital currency products can reshape how we do business. Along those same lines, Peer 2 Peer payments, without a bank-in-the-middle has the ability to change EVERYTHING, such as how taxes are collected. These digital currency products level the playing field, no more does someone have to qualify for a bank loan or have your "credit" checked in order to accept online payments. Here are a few examples: WebMoney's Credit Service permits anyone to loan money to anyone else using the WebMoney purse. If you have funds to loan another WebMoney account holder simply set your terms and conditions then make the loan directly to another user. No bank, no credit check...no bank fees.

Think about the Loom system for a minute. Today you can create your own currency which is your own financial brand, back it with metal or not, and transact online without any of the usual bullshit bank restrictions. If users like your currency, trust you and your reputation, they will accept it. If you are shady, chances are no one will accept it. By issuing your own brand currency you actually become the bank.

This is a lot like what the Internet did for the news business. No longer can one central information source direct or mis-direct the actions and opinions of the masses. Sure I often watch the NBC nightly news but I also read two dozen other news sources each day online. With non bank digital currency products, you could rely on bank issued products, but there are three dozen non-bank alternatives now, cheaper, faster and easier. Maybe one day soon I'll stop watching Brian Williams each night, and just get my news online from alternative sources. I don't use banks anymore.