The return of gold as real money

Gold is an excellent store of value, but it's lost its utility as money. But now a London-based fintech startup wants to bring gold into the 21st century. Ben Judge reports.

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A horse my gold-backed electronic currency for a horse
(Image credit: Credit: Emma Wood / Alamy Stock Photo)

Gold has been an excellent store of value over the long run: as gold fans often point out, it's perhaps the only form of money where the quantity that would have bought you a decent toga in Roman times is still worth a half-decent suit today. Still, as a means of exchange, it's less useful than it once was.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.