UK Royal Mint puts gold-backed crypto token launch plans on hold

The UK Royal Mint has halted its plans to launch a gold-backed crypto token, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Initiated by the Royal Mint and CME Group in 2016, the digitized gold offering was dubbed ‘Royal Mint Gold’ or RMG with each RMG representing the digitized version of 1 gram of gold stored in the Royal Mint’s vault.

The idea behind the offering was to provide an easier, cost-effective and cryptographically secure alternative to buying, holding and trading spot gold.

In April 2017, the project partners tested a blockchain-based platform, developed in collaboration with AlphaPoint and BitGo. The platform was built to enable institutions to trade RMG.

RMG was initially scheduled to launch in the autumn of 2017 but later aimed to launch in the spring of 2018. All was going well until CME abandoned the project last minute, which left the Mint without a trading venue, sources said.

The Mint’s efforts to save the project by collaborating with a crypto exchange were further quashed by the country’s finance ministry earlier this year. The sources said that the ministry didn’t give its approval to the partnership as it perceived it as too big a gamble.

In its official comment on the latest developments, the Mint told Reuters that the launch of its digital gold is not possible due to the current market conditions, adding that it will “revisit this if and when market conditions are right.”