The Comtech Gold (CGO) represents one pure gram of gold, and fully backed, redeemable, regulated gold. CGO is also a stablecoin backed by gold and follows Shariah principles. Learn more about Comtech Gold with the Co-Founder and CEO, Navin D’Souza, in this AMA.
Q. Tell us briefly about yourself and how you came up with your idea behind Comtech Gold.
I have been in this gold-related industry over the last 15 years and what I have observed is that though everyone wants to invest in gold, it is always not very easy to do so. The traditional form of investment is always jewelry, which, once invested, becomes part of your personal collection and does not remain as an investment. Other forms of investment are not available to ordinary people, mainly because of their size, e.g., trading in gold on an exchange platform is only available in a minimum size of 1 kg. Also, along with investment in gold comes other nuances, i.e., storage, security, making charges on jewelry, etc. That’s when we came up with a thought – what if we can have gold in our wallets, without the hassle of storage and security, and can be bought and sold in 1 gram units at a touch of a button from anywhere across the globe, this is what we want to achieve with Comtech Gold.
Q. Tell us more about gold tokenization and its pros and cons.
Comtech Gold is registered in Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority. The COMTECH’s Gold token (CGO) will be backed by physical gold, which would be identifiable and segregated. Each purchase and sale of gold will result in the actual delivery of tokens from the seller to the buyer, completely following Shariah’s Principles. The backing of gold and the purchase or sale of GoldX Token (CGO) will be completely auditable, allowing it to be tracked entirely from creation to purchase to sale to redemption. All gold tokens (CGO) will be 100% backed by physical gold in the form of standardized 1 kg bars of 999 purity. The gold bars would be identifiable through their bar numbers and will of internationally accepted refineries.
Q. Where is Comtech Gold located, and why?
Comtech is based in the United Arab Emirates in the Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZA). DAFZA is considered the most prominent hub for gold traders and already has eco-system facilities like custodians, supply chains, direct access to the airport, and a customs clearance facility. On the other hand, UAE is very active in the blockchain space and undertaking various measures to develop and grow the blockchain network and be pioneers in this space.
Q. Why did you choose the XDC Blockchain Network?
The XDC Network is a reliable Ethereum-compatible and Ethereum-competitive blockchain platform that offers a base layer for enterprise blockchain applications while providing a solid foundation for blockchain innovation at all levels. Concentrating on enterprises and secure blockchain, we find XDC Network, an enterprise-ready blockchain solution with military-grade security with the lowest gas fees and high-speed transaction, adds an advantage to the vision of Comtech gold. The network is home to real-world tokenized assets and smart contracts.
Q. Who are Comtech Gold’s main competitors?
We have seen similar offerings coming up in the market, some of them are in the blockchain space, and some are in the traditional markets, e.g., banks have not started to offer gold accounts to investors, but some jewelry group has begun offering customers an option to block the gold rates by paying a margin. However, most of these products only provide price protection without the underlying gold holding, while others are available in sizes and fees, which are not feasible for a retail investor.
We believe Comtech Gold has a unique offering that allows investors easy access from anywhere in the world to invest in gold at the best price without worrying about the security, storage, and management of physical gold and with an option to convert their holdings into physical gold at any point in time. Comtech Gold also comes with an opportunity to allow investors to earn interest on their gold holdings without paying for any custody and storage cost.
Q. Please elaborate on the roadmap of Comtech Gold.
Comtech Gold has already received extensive positive feedback from the industry and huge commitments from our closed user group. We have already issued around 100,000 tokens in our first month of operations, each representing 1 gram of gold fully backed by physical gold stored in secured vaults. We aim to reach around US$ 500 million worth of tokens in the first 12 to 18 months and have these tokens available on leading blockchain exchanges to be open to the larger public. Where existing investors have to spend to manage the physical gold, we look forward to an opportunity to allow investors to hold gold without any cost and enable them to earn interest on their gold holdings.
Q. How can retail users participate if they wish to buy gold-backed tokens?
Retail investors can access and buy our gold-backed tokens from the exchanges where these will be listed for trading. We are already in our final stages of having this token listed on some of the leading blockchain exchanges with global presence and access. We are coming up with the first exchange in less than a week.
Q. How are you financially supporting your venture? Do you have any fundraising plan or go-to VC or private equity player for the investment?
We are fairly funded by private investors who are confident in the whole project and the growth of the venture. However, we would be open to going for an equity round from strategic investors at a later stage, or we may list our organization directly to the world’s reputed stock exchange via IPO.
Any specific message you like to give our readers?
Gold traditionally has always been considered a hedge against inflation. Market experts have always advised diversifying your portfolio with some portion of the investment held in gold. With Comtech Gold, you can achieve both of the above more innovatively and securely from anywhere across the globe and travel worldwide with gold in your wallet in a secured digital form.
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