New kid on the Digital Gold Currency block: c-gold

Attention digital gold currency fans. There is a new kid on the block, and it goes by the name of "c-gold"(Commerce Gold). A Malaysian start up digital gold currency, quietly entered the marketplace and now just a few days old it is rapidly gaining acceptance. The thing that troubles me is just how similar it is to e-gold. Their website has the exact same layout and to be honest on first sight it reeks of "copy cat" and "unoriginal".

C-gold is a new ‘digital’ gold currency platform which not only operates online, but also will soon work offline through brick and mortar global locations. The management is forecasting that soon it will launch additional shop fronts, mobile wallets and integration for handheld devices.

Some other successful companies management is associated with include: CyberFrontier Corporation, CyFroCA$H Incorporated, Cyberica.NET Limited (www.cyberica.net, www.u2planet.com),CyberGoldBank.NET and is also responsible for the Private Gold Equities Exchange Limited which is being developed as a privately operated alternative to public stock exchanges.

C-gold will eventually offer over-the-counter bailment’s and redemptions. This operation is handled at brick and mortar locations. Verified, account holders simply drop off a bar and pick up a bar when funding or redeeming their digital account. There is NO surcharge or extra fees for this operation. Bars are also shipped worldwide and the service is fast Nice! (shipping, handling, insurance charges will apply) On further though, I am not sure how they cannot have a surcharge - the economics just doesn't make sense.

Anyways, the minimum bailment in or out is 1,000 grams (999 fine, marked and certified bars only) They predict that smaller denominations and bullion coins will be added as that part of the business grows. Today, which is about 4 days into their new operation, 5200 grams are already on deposit. You can see their daily holdings right down to the bar mark and number from the c-gold holdings page.

“Any user with an active and verified c-gold.com User Holdings Account can visit a shop of the Commerce Gold Network and add gold to his or her account by bailing in a gold bar (type conditions apply).”

Verified accounts require ID, utility bills and other personal information. Why? The c-gold operators understand that the ‘The Know Your Customer’ (KYC) rules/regulations/laws spanning multiple jurisdictions around the globe are very important in today’s digital economy in order to combat terrorist funding, money laundering, child pornography, copyright infringements and to help eliminate attempts to abuse the c-gold system.

The first retail location for this operation is now being prepared in Penang, Malaysia. Negotiations with interested and qualified parties are also underway including franchise shops, ’shoplets’ and strategic global locations.

So how do you fund your account? Yes, I found myself asking the same question, and the answer is that you can either bail in a gold bar or purchase c-gold from someone who has already done that. So far I see no "exchange agents" that accept c-gold and bailing in a 1 kilo gold bullion bar is not exactly within my reach, if you know what I mean.

Conclusion: As you can probably tell I am not impressed with c-gold, but in the end either it will be "the next big thing" in the digital gold currency arena or it will be a colossal failure. We shall have to wait and see.

--update-- it has come to my attention that you can now fund your account by using these two exchangers: www.anygoldnow.com or www.goldnow.st

To open up an account visit: http://www.c-gold.com

--update--

see this link for exchangers that offer c-gold as an in/out exchange option