OneGram, a Dubai technology firm, has launched the first-ever digital currency backed by gold in an initial offering expected to raise more than $500 million in capital, company chief executive officer Ibrahim Mohammed told Reuters in an interview late on Tuesday. At the current spot price of gold, a sold-out sale with 12.44 million tokens would bring in about $555 million.
The target capital would be the largest raised through an initial coin sale, Mohammed said. It is also the first coin offering that is fully compliant with Islamic laws. And while the token, called OneGramCoin, is considered an Islamic financial product, its offering is open to all types of investors including non-Muslims, he added.
The tokens will be sold from May 21 to September 22. The Dubai company has also teamed up with GoldGuard, a gold trading company, for the token offering, with one token backed by 1 gram of gold held at a vault inside the Dubai International Airport. OneGramCoin was created using blockchain technology, which has powered similar currencies such as bitcoin. Blockchain is the current rage in the financial and corporate world, being able to track and record assets across all industries. Nearly 50 percent of the offering has been committed, Mohammed said.
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