In our latest update from Kinesis CEO and founder, Thomas Coughlin reviews the milestones accomplished by Kinesis in Q4 2022 and provides a glimpse into everything still to come in the first quarter of 2023.
Q4 snapshot
Kinesis Virtual Card
Launched in Q4, the Kinesis Virtual Card enables our global community to instantly spend their gold, silver and cryptocurrencies with point-of-sale conversion.
The virtual card program is available to users in 61 countries across multiple territories – offering our communities in Europe, the UK, Canada, Oceania and Latin America the ability to spend their digital assets in real-time, anywhere Mastercard is accepted.
The card experience is improving every day, with both Kinesis management and support staff dedicated to providing the highest level of assistance to users, ensuring a great experience for all.
I am happy to report that the number of Kinesis Virtual Card users is growing steadily, with more and more clients and partners starting to use the card regularly to transact and purchase on a daily basis.
The card program is the first of many in a global roll-out, set to spearhead Kinesis’ mission of reintroducing precious metals as money to the global community.
Users can sign up for their free card here.
Kinesis Bullion Store
In addition, the official opening of the Kinesis Bullion store offered clients direct access to industry-leading pricing on independently produced, investment-grade bullion products.
Our inaugural Kinesis Bullion series showcased the bespoke artistry of our in-house design team in a choice selection of silver bullion coins and bars, available for shipping across the United States. The decision to manufacture our own unique gold and silver products was taken to offer investment-grade coins and bars at extremely competitive pricing to our community.
To make the payment process seamless, purchases at the Bullion store can be made using Kinesis Gold (KAU) and Silver (KAG) held in your Kinesis account, offering an even more cost-efficient way for investors to add to their collections. In addition, purchases can be made via a wire transfer.
The Kinesis Bullion store offers insured delivery within seven working days across the United States, with free shipping on orders above $199.
All bullion manufactured is of the highest standard, with production at our 56,000 square feet Physical Mint facility, based in Istanbul, able to supply the orders placed at the store and into physical markets across the world. Going forward, Kinesis will be targeting a range of wholesale clients and third parties with bullion production services offered at the Istanbul Mint.
In early January, bullion manufactured at the Physical Mint was showcased at the Florida United Numismatists convention in Orlando, generating a new wave of interest from wholesalers, stackers and collectors in the precious metals community.
With special thanks to our partners, Citizens for Sound Money and Silverback Precious Metals, the team displayed a selection of Kinesis silver bullion coins and bars at the convention which hosted over 600 coin dealers from across the US. This was a great opportunity for the team, where they established important relations within the industry and further amplified Kinesis’ bullion services.
The Turkish team continues to make visible Kinesis’ range of fine bullion products around the world, which are consistently well-received by those across the industry. Many have commented on the bespoke designs and high-quality finish of Kinesis’ products, and at the most recent convention, likened them to the standard produced by the Royal Mint of Canada.
Take a look at our range of products over at the Kinesis Bullion store today.
Kinesis Cashback
Last quarter, the Kinesis Cashback feature launched on the Kinesis platform, enabling US users to earn 3% – instantly paid in physical gold and silver – on purchases made in precious metals at retailers across the United States.
Available both in-store and online, users can create vouchers for the purchase total in gold and silver and redeem the voucher at checkout at over 200 leading US retailers, including Adidas, Burger King, Uber, Applebee’s, Lowe’s and Subway.
With the list of retailers constantly growing, the Cashback program offers instant savings on precious metals every time users purchase with a Kinesis voucher and opt for payment with gold or silver.
USDC listing
In a consistent effort to diversify the range of assets available to our platform users, USD Coin (USDC), the fiat-based stablecoin, was listed on the Kinesis Exchange in Q4.
An important addition to the Kinesis ecosystem, USDC – the second-largest fiat-based stablecoin in the cryptocurrency industry – brings deep, stable liquidity and a stellar market reputation to Kinesis.
USDC is tradeable against Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), the US dollar (USD) as well as Kinesis’ native gold and silver-based stablecoins, Kinesis Gold (KAU) and Kinesis Silver (KAG). Most importantly, USDC can be spent on the Kinesis Virtual Card in real-time, anywhere Mastercard is accepted.
Indonesia
In the fourth quarter, the Kinesis local Indonesia entity, PT Kinesis Monetary Indonesia (PT KMI) was approved and licensed by the government regulator as a Gold Depository Manager. PT KMI is currently the only entity in Indonesia to have such a licence.
Kinesis has retrofitted and constructed a fully insured vault within a PT POS vault, with standalone remote cameras, floor safes and other security measures for the holding of physical bullion related to any Kinesis transactions in Indonesia. This temporary vault facility will be used until the bespoke Kinesis bullion vault project is structured and built with our government partners.
Early January saw the soft launch of POSPAY GOLD and the commencement of the internal campaign to onboard POS employees. The annual PT POS CEO Summit was held in January, bringing together the POS Board of Directors, Senior Management, Division Heads and Branch Directors. POSPAY GOLD signage and collateral were present during the week-long event. In addition, a POSPAY GOLD presentation event was held for over 200 Branch Directors.
Kinesis Forum
The fourth quarter of 2022 saw the launch of the Kinesis community forum, an initiative formed with influential members of the Telegram community.
The forum fosters a more structured communication channel between the Kinesis community, with features such as ordered discussion threads, votable suggestions and comprehensive “How-To” user guides and articles. Our dedicated administrators on the forum moderate discussions, raise issues and provide support to the community.
Providing a safe space for community discussions and sharing ideas about everything Kinesis, the forum ensures that every voice is heard. It provides an opportunity for Kinesis to open new channels of communication between our users and our management, who can relay and respond directly to questions and feedback.
We encourage all users to register for the forum here: https://forum.kinesis.money/
LFTV 100th episode
In December last year, the landmark 100th episode special of Live From The Vault – Kinesis’ weekly show featuring leading industry guests, in-depth precious metals market commentary and technical updates – aired on our dedicated YouTube channel.
Hosted by industry expert and whistleblower Andrew Maguire, the show has become a mainstay of the Kinesis brand and will continue to host the most informed guests and opinions from the precious metals industry throughout 2023.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified of new episode releases.
Industry partnerships
Kinesis is expanding its reach within the industry through a series of partnerships with high-profile gold and silver brands including Northstar Badcharts and GoldSilver Pros.
These partnerships will amplify the Kinesis brand and product offering across partnering social media and online channels. Our partners will be sharing Kinesis company updates and news with their respective communities about the latest developments of the Kinesis product suite.
Alongside this, partners will enhance the industry visibility of Kinesis with special guest appearances, as seen in the recent interviews featuring myself, CEO Thomas Coughlin, on Wall Street Silver and GoldSilver Pros.
During the holiday season, our long-standing partnership with Wall Street Silver saw the launch of the “Kinesis x WSS Christmas competition” offering the silver stacking community the chance to win from a selection of physical silver prizes from the Kinesis Bullion store, worth over $10,000.
Looking ahead to Q1 2023
Kinesis Pay
Scheduled for launch in mid-Q1, Kinesis Pay is a new payment feature that will enable online and physical merchants to accept payments in Kinesis Gold (KAU) and Silver (KAG) through a secure and seamless payment gateway.
When integrated with a merchant’s online store, the feature will give online customers the option of easily paying with gold and silver. The feature will give businesses the opportunity to diversify their company holdings with precious metals as an inflation-resistant alternative to fiat currencies, while also making them eligible to receive the Holder’s yield on gold and silver.
Importantly, our community of Kinesis Referrers will have the opportunity to mobilise their local communities to sign-up individuals and businesses via the Kinesis referral program. An individual Kinesis Referrer will have the power to build a Local Kinesis Economy in their locality, alongside receiving all the referral benefits of doing so.
Independent Audits
Kinesis completed its fourth independent precious metals audit in January 2023, once again providing users with confirmation that all Kinesis Gold (KAU) and Kinesis Silver (KAG) in circulation are backed by a 1:1 allocation of gold and silver bullion.
This year, Kinesis will be trialling quarterly independent audits to further reinforce our commitment to delivering on trust, transparency and security. When it comes to the ownership of physically allocated precious metals, we understand the importance of transparency, provided by the assurance of frequent, independent auditing – especially in light of recent market events.
The introduction of quarterly audits will ensure added transparency of Kinesis’ gold and silver reserves throughout the year, giving the community total reassurance of the full allocation of their precious metals-backed KAU and KAG against the equivalent quantity of underlying physical gold and silver.
Kinesis Pro
The development of Kinesis Pro, Kinesis’ professional cryptocurrency trading platform, is now in the advanced stages ahead of a prospective launch in early-mid 2023.
The exchange will bring a professional cryptocurrency trading experience to Kinesis users and feature high liquidity trading pairs, innovative trading tools and best-in-class security. All digital assets on Kinesis Pro will be custodied with a leading institutional provider, delivering exhaustive security and enterprise-grade insurance, both in storage and transfer.
Kinesis Pro forms an imperative part of Kinesis’ growth strategy, offering dedicated cryptocurrency traders a tailored platform for trading and investing in a wide range of cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Beyond that, Kinesis Pro will be housed on a dedicated section of the Kinesis website, complete with frequent cryptocurrency news coverage, market updates and bespoke educational Academy content.
Stay tuned for the official launch of Kinesis Pro later this year.
External Exchange Listings
Kinesis has been working hard to secure the listing of KAU and KAG on a selection of highly reputable, external cryptocurrency exchanges. This quarter, Kinesis’ gold and silver-backed currencies will be available to buy, sell and trade on leading asset exchanges Bittrex and Emirex.
The external listing of KAU and KAG is consistent with our strategic drive towards further amplifying global awareness and access to Kinesis’ gold and silver assets within the wider crypto market.
Multi-accounts
Expanding on the Kinesis accounts offering, multi-accounts will enable users who have verified their personal account to additionally register and verify as a Business.
Whether system participants own a global enterprise or are the owner of a small business, the introduction of multi-accounts will unlock the potential for users to take full advantage of the Kinesis system. By registering as a Business, system participants will have an expanded number of features available to them, such as registering as a merchant with Kinesis Pay or paying employees in gold and silver with the multi-send feature already available on the platform.
Once logged into their Business account, users will be able to stay logged in, easily switch between their account profiles, and set the Business account as their default login account.
Indonesia
The multiple live Indonesian apps and platforms powered by Kinesis (POSPAY GOLD, MetalGo, JFX GOLD X) are commencing their outreach and marketing efforts in Q1 2023.
The additional apps and platforms already built but not yet deployed (NU GOLD, ICDX GOLD) will develop their internal launch sequence this quarter.
Kinesis will continue to work hand in hand with our government, exchange and technology partners to develop and deploy additional products and services such as Cross Border Value (CBV – Remittances), #GoldforNation, and donation platforms using KAU (disaster relief, 2023 presidential campaigns, remote subsistence and food programs, among others).
Governments
As we begin rolling out KAU and our gold saving and payment solutions through Indonesia, we have just secured our second national government partnership. This project has been debated at the political level, signed by the president and is now moving into law. It is a clearly defined project from the outset and we have begun collaboration with all relevant foundational partners in the country. We have learnt a lot from our integration with the Indonesian government and are now taking that forward.
The second government project under the belt is a big one, as it demonstrates that our first government-level integration wasn’t a fluke and will be strongly leveraged.
We have been quietly working behind the scenes with our friends at the United Nations to build relationships with many government-level decision-makers across the world, including numerous Heads of State. I wish to advise that 2023 is shaping up to be a big year for government partnership deal-making for Kinesis.
Gold as money outside of a fractional reserve system and in a system which serves the nation and its people has created these opportunities, and probably for the first time in history, the timing seems to be very much on our side. Our model, with its fee-based yield system, offers an economically stimulating monetary system providing the potential for populist taxation reform within a nation.
Official news here is coming.
Physical US card
Following the global launch of the Kinesis Virtual Card, the team at Kinesis is continuing its development on the roll-out of the Kinesis Physical card program.
The highly-competitive, US-specific card program will provide our expansive US customer base with real-time, point-of-sale transactions of their gold, silver and cryptocurrency assets.
Built for the needs of North American users, our expansive card program will offer our US customer base the ability to spend in time-proven, historically-sound precious metals.
Physical European card
With work beginning in the last quarter of 2022, the development of the European physical card is well underway.
The physical card will be available across the EEA and will be part of a multi-phase product to bring on card services as well as banking services.
After the release of the card, during the second phase of development, we will be looking at enhanced services to bring online banking facilities for receiving fiat and the capabilities to manage everyday spending completely within the Kinesis system. The work will continue in Q1, with the aim of providing more insight into the delivery of the program in Q2.
Stay tuned for updates on our global card program.
Banking on-ramps and open banking API integrations
Kinesis is working on delivering ACH payments directly linked via an open banking portal, allowing our US customers to make simplified deposits into the KMS. Users will be able to deposit into their Kinesis account directly from their personal bank accounts automatically via the new portal. The partnership with premier open banking provider PLAID will also move Kinesis towards improved wire transfer services in the EU and UK at a later stage.
We are pleased to announce that we have selected a EUR/GBP banking provider that will make EUR and GBP instant deposits available via SEPA and Faster payments into local accounts – avoiding the international wire transfer and SWIFT fees of our European and UK clients.
We are currently finalising due diligence with this new provider and are looking towards a Q1 release. More information will be provided once the service comes online.
In Summary
After ending 2022 on a positive note, the momentum at Kinesis is only set to continue into 2023. With the global availability of the Kinesis Virtual Card, Kinesis hit a significant milestone, offering users the ability to spend digitalised gold and silver in real-time, anywhere in the world.
The Kinesis Virtual Card is just one of many in a global card program that reinforces Kinesis’ standing as a global, integrated Monetary System providing utility to gold and silver as money.
Also noteworthy, the opening of Kinesis Bullion last quarter now offers existing users and US-based bullion buyers an outlet for purchasing competitively priced, physical bullion of the highest standard – minted and refined at our Physical Mint facility.
In 2023, Kinesis will harness relations within the precious metals industry, expanding brand recognition through a range of strategic partnerships. In addition, Kinesis will continue to bring the community in touch with the latest industry news from the gold and silver markets, fiat system and in-depth trading and charting analysis from key names in the space.
As ever, we will continue to increase the reach of the Kinesis product suite and its core functionality, serving an expanding audience of gold and silver traders, everyday savers and wholesale investors.
Looking forward to the first quarter of 2023, the entire Kinesis team, myself included, are proud to continue our commitment towards building the very best gold and silver-based monetary system for our community. Frankly, we’re all charged up to begin real commercialisation this year.
Best regards,
Thomas Coughlin
