I love the idea of having a gold backed cryptocurrency but one of the big problems cryptocurrencies solve (the "custodian" problem, it doesn't have the need for a custodian) doesn't seem solvable when linking cryptos to gold. This leads to the same problem as all the stablecoins, they are only valuable so long as you can trust the custodian. One of the major benefits of cryptos in general is that they are usually "trustless", but once you add a custodian back into the mix you lose this main benefit.
Here's the difference.
When you buy Tether, you don't own the dollar that backs it, the custodian does. In this case, when you buy the gold-backed coin, you are given legal ownership of the gold that back it.
I agree it's definitely better than any of the fiat backed stable coins, just still has the custodian risk.
Have you heard of Quintric? It's a similar project, was wondering if you had any thoughts on it. I think I might like Kinesis better though since it's Stellar based and seems to be further along development wise than Quintric.
I have not, but I'll definitely look into it.
But where is the real gold then, in a bank? How do I get my hands on it, if I really need it?