Video interview with JT Wong, the Founder and CEO of Digital Gold
Digital Gold Bank founded in Thailand is embarking on the path of building the first Digital Gold Bank. The company motto is, In Digital World we live, in Gold We trust”. Digital Gold has launched its mining operation in Zambia and is in the process of opening its office in the UAE.
Digital Gold wants to build a financial services ecosystem based on gold. They are planning to develop the Digital Gold Mine Token, digital loans based on this gold, e-Wallet, a cryptocurrency exchange, credit cards services and more.
Digital Gold offers the same benefits of physical gold but without the drawbacks associated with physical gold, including storage costs and limited accessibility.
UNLOCK interviewed JT Wong, the Founder and CEO of Digital Gold. Wong is a successful Thai Business man who has built a huge social media Group, called TCG Social Media Group, TCG Entertainment, and TCG Studio)
So what brought a social media entrepreneur into the gold industry? Wong started Digital Gold Token because of his partner and his passion for community. As Wong explains, “My partner has a strong experience in mining and it is through this that we collaborated on the Digital Gold Token project. Digital Gold Token will succeed because it is backed first by the Gold Mining entity and license in Zambia, as well as our experience in building strong communities based on trust. The Digital Gold coin will be used as a coin inside our community for utility and retention purposes.”
He adds, “There’re some opportunity in Crypto business that we can fit in, it’s not just a financial business but it’s also about community & trust. Crypto token is not money; it’s just a medium for exchanging value. From our POV, The token is nothing but digital data, what if we can bring the real value, like Gold, to merge with Digital token. Social media is our strength to build a large community of users with trust, with that expertise; we aim to penetrate the market in good time.”
Digital Gold is on track towards building a financial ecosystem based around its Digital Gold Token. In Q4 2021, they received the Gold Mining License in Zambia and will start their operations in the coming month. Wong explains, “We have signed a 10 year gold mining license with the government of Zambia which should produce 300 Tons and our mining operations will commence soon. Gold has been the standard asset for the world for more than 1000 years. From our Digital Gold token we will build a financial decentralized ecosystem which will grow with the community.”
Digital Gold is the first licensed Gold mining entity in Zambia that is operating an Organic Gold Mining entity. Wong states, “We are the only mining group in Zambia out of more than 3000 mining entities that are using environmentally sustainable practices to mine gold. We are using water and gravity to do the mining not chemicals. So while other mining entities through the use of chemicals are able to mine 90 percent of the gold, we are able to mine 70 percent but without hurting the environment and also building a better environment for villagers. When we mine we will have created a small river from the extracted water, we will teach villagers to plant coffee trees and develop family businesses.”
The Zambian government is very supportive of this project. The Gold mining operations will start in September and October 2022. Wong adds, “We will broadcast live our mining activities and launch to all our token holders.”
Such as Gold has been a trusted commodity for financial and economic transactions, even in the era of crypto, Digital Gold is building the infrastructure for digital banking in a global market.
Digital Gold aims to launch a Digital Bank, and an exchange called INFOEX and its wallet, allowing token holders to be able to quickly and easily liquidate their gold tokens for other cryptocurrencies. This will add value of the token.
Wong adds, “Banking business is a business of credits and assets. Gold is the standard asset of the world for thousands of years. Who owns gold own credit. We will build the gold backed token just to create liquidity for the gold. This makes many financial products and services possible, with more convenience in digital world. A Decentralized Exchange will be just one of our financial products; there’ll be more to come under the concept of banking products & services.
The Infoex will be built on Digital Gold permission based Blockchain EcoChain, with Ecoin. Wong comments, “We are building the blockchain ecosystem that we will use to build all our services on. As permission based Blockchain we will choose trusted partners and eventually build our exchange. Already many parties have expressed interest in building on top of our Ecochain so we expect 3-4 ecosystems implemented on EcoChain.”
Wong when asked about regulatory status of Digital Gold Bank explained, “We have the gold mining license from Zambia which will then be followed with a banking license. We are also partnering with two of three banks who are interested.”
In terms of investment, Digital Gold Bank is seeking investors and many investors from Thailand and other countries have expressed interest. In addition Digital Gold is in negotiations with UAE DIFC based Taurani Investment Limited Capital investment. Wong states, “We are actively working on the funding part and open for VCs who understand our project and support our cause.”
Digital Gold is currently in the final stages of opening its office in UAE after their presence in Zambia. They are also intending to open in Singapore, Switzerland and Hong Kong.
Wong in his final comments states, “As I am almost 60 years old, money is no longer the aim and as a religious Muslim I am looking to create a project that will do good and have a mission. Gold backed token is Shariaa compliant and that is important to us because we want to have a Halal product. We look to partner with those who are like minded to ensure that while we build a stablecoin backed by Digital Gold backed financial ecosystem we also give back to society.”
