Having worked in the precious metals industry for decades, I have had countless opportunities to have very honest and very enlightening conversations with numerous investors and partners alike. For many years, I’ve been discussing the challenges, the hurdles and the problems they’ve encountered. The details of each story I’ve heard might be as unique as the person who shared it with me, however, most of these accounts have a common denominator. Nearly all of them revolve around basic, practical difficulties.
One of the key questions that popped up over the years, was that of accessibility, or what would happen if banks and logistics companies shut down in a harsh crisis scenario. How one access their gold in that case or, even better, how could they directly trade it against other goods. I believe this is not as far-fetched a question as many might think. We will need our gold to trade or barter with physically in the future, but the internet will also remain and allow us to use peer-to-peer transactions in a decentralized way.
Another common concern is that buying and storing physical gold is not always easy for everyone and there are too many would-be investors out there that are discouraged by the obstacles placed in their path. Prohibitively high investment minimums make it unrealistic for a young saver to start building a gold position, as they simply cannot afford to invest tens of thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) at once. Storage fees are a common deterrent too, as are the various limitations associated with transporting metals or transferring ownership. Bureaucratic burdens, complicated paperwork and legitimate security concerns have also persistently discouraged investors from diversifying into physical metals.
After repeatedly encountering these same issues for many years, after examining them in great depth with experts and seasoned professionals from the industry and searching for different possible ways to address them, I finally find myself in the position to announce that we have created a solution that does exactly that.
Swissgrams combines the time-tested and unrivaled safe haven status of physical gold with the modern efficiencies and security of blockchain technology, to create a unique gold-backed digital token that offers an innovative investment option designed to address the most common challenges faced by traditional gold investors. Swissgram’s line of business is the issuance of “modern warehouse receipts” against physical delivery of metals to our custodian (and delivery of physical precious metals for tokens). We do not buy and sell precious metals or tokens, neither for our own account or for our clients.
Swissgrams tokens are 100% backed by physical gold stored in high-security private vaults in Switzerland. These gold reserves are audited in real time and located outside the traditional banking system, providing solid protection from systemic risks such as banking crises and political instability, while also ensuring access and continuity even in the event of a harsh crisis scenario. What’s more, Swissgrams tokens represent a direct ownership title under Swiss law to the physical gold that underlies their investments and they can seamlessly redeem their tokens for physical gold bars or in smaller formats from our network of partner gold dealers.
This flexibility addresses key practical issues of traditional gold ownership, such as liquidity and divisibility, but it also significantly enhances the investor’s individual financial sovereignty. The tokens can be easily bought online and physically redeemed within Switzerland initially, but we’re actively working to expand this offering and to eventually allow all Swissgrams investors to redeem their tokens at any gold dealer around the world. This long-term vision will provide true financial freedom and independence to all investors, no matter how large or small their holdings might be. Through our partner network, everyone will be able to buy Swissgrams easily online through traditional channels such as precious metals dealers or through DeFi exchanges.
Swissgrams also introduces technological advantages and brings modern solutions to old problems. Tokenization allows fractional ownership of gold bars, making this asset class accessible to a much wider range of investors than ever before and opening up the market to the vast majority of ordinary people who never had the means or the opportunity to protect their hard-earned savings through investing in physical gold. Without minimum investment requirements, without high fabrication costs, steep storage or transaction fees and without lengthy and complicated account opening processes, Swissgrams breaks down the most common entry barriers and offers a straightforward way for everyone and anyone to become a gold investor. Our aim is to empower the individual and his right to self-determination.
Furthermore, developed as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, the Swissgrams token ensures transparency and security, as each transaction and the corresponding gold reserves can be tracked and verified on the blockchain, enhancing trust and accountability. This technology also allows for much more efficient, cheaper and faster transactions, thereby decisively addressing the problem of relatively high transaction costs, fees and commissions often associated with traditional gold investments. Swissgrams additionally guarantees another layer of protection and security from a legal perspective: the company is governed by the clear and well-established regulations of the Swiss legal framework for cryptocurrencies, offering a reliable and secure avenue for investing in its digital gold-backed tokens. Last, but certainly not least, Swissgrams offers true privacy and freedom from unwarranted surveillance and intrusion to investors, something that has become a luxury in recent years, instead the basic human right it used to be. Privacy was one of our top concerns and priorities when we developed this product and this is reflected in the final result.
The technological edge and the practical advantages of the Swissgrams tokens are quite clear and straightforward, however, for me, there’s another element that makes this solution truly unique: It is the team that created it and the network of partners that facilitated its transition from theory to practice. I was able to put a team of old friends of mine together, each one of whom I know for many years and can therefore be certain that we all share the same principles and values, especially in terms of individual liberty, private property and self-determination.
The Swissgrams team includes Robert Hartmann, one of the founders of one of the largest private precious metals companies in Europe, pro aurum AG, and Marco Ricca, Swissgrams’ co-founder and CTO, also founded in 2002 Europe’s first “ethical hacking” firm, Ilion Security, which he sold in 2011 to Lexsi Group, as well as Iris (Satorys), another cyber-security startup, which he sold in 2013 to Ruag Defense, while he currently serves as the managing director of Codinglab, an IT services company based in Locarno, Switzerland. Our CEO, Vahan P. Roth, holds a Master of Law from the University of Zurich and is a CFA® charterholder, has previously co-founded RealUnit Schweiz AG, a listed and tokenized investment company based on a real-asset strategy, while Edouard Lamy, our non-executive co-founder, is a seasoned Private Equity Investment professional, co-founder of French renewable energy consulting firm Sepale as well as Apseon Solar France, and he is the current Chief Financial Officer of the German company Wingcopter.
Pro aurum, the retail gold market leader in the DACH region is our first gold dealer partner, while he have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Helveticor, a family-owned Swiss high-security logistics company and with Mt Pelerin Group, a Swiss fintech specialized in cryptocurrencies, digital compliance and asset tokenization.
After having secured official validation and approval by the Swiss Financial Authority (FINMA) for the legal structure of our token and after finalizing our operational setup and further developing our technical infrastructure over the last year, Swissgrams is now entering its next phase, by joining forces with investors who understand the big picture and the superior value proposition that we have to offer. It is of paramount importance to us that they share our core values and our vision. We are looking for like-minded individuals to help us perfect and launch this product, in order to empower every individual on this planet with a sound alternative that will allow them to save in physical precious metals under rock-solid private property rights. Swissgrams and all is has to offer is clearly something that is missing from the current system and in today’s world.
We hope we will find investors who understand what Ludwig von Mises meant when he said, “If history could teach us anything, it would be that private property is inextricably linked with civilization”.
If you’re interested to learn more about Swissgrams, don’t hesitate to contact me directly; it will be my pleasure to talk about our company in greater depth and to discuss its business plan and the technical and operational aspects of the Swissgrams tokens. We’ll also be hosting a Zoom introduction with our entire team on at a later date, which I will announce in the coming weeks. I hope you’ll join us and I look forward to sharing more details with you and answering any questions you may have.
Claudio Grass, Hünenberg See, Switzerland. www.claudiograss.ch
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