Lionsgold makes progress with 'GOLDBLOC' gold currency

The AIM-traded firm said live testing with Mastercard debit cards was underway.

It described GOLDBLOC as a unit of gold held in a current account, with one GOLDBLOC equivalent to 1/1,000th of a gram.

Lionsgold said the scope of the opportunity as an alternative mainstream currency was being expanded during development.

A pilot release was to occur in July for the first 200 customers using iOS devices.

“We are pleased to report that GOLDBLOC is in the final stages of internal testing including testing with Mastercard debit cards,” said chief executive Cameron Parry.

“During development the scope of GOLDBLOC has grown to become the foundation of a gold banking ecosystem which has required additional planning and integration with our technology partners Railsbank, of which LION owns 12.5%.”

Parry said that had seen more time needed to complete the platform for customers to be able to spend and receive physical gold in real time via a current account.

“We have decided to do a pilot release initially to the first 200 customers downloading the mobile banking app and opening a current account, and Lionsgold will make an announcement when the pilot goes live.

“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank all Lionsgold shareholders for their patience as we finalise GOLDBLOC which is a first of its kind, commodity currency - a tangible asset directly owned by the customer for use as an alternative mainstream currency within the global banking system.

“Concurrent to the above, Lionsgold has also been progressing with work related to seeing LION shares readmitted to trading in the coming months, as we continue to expand our organisation and business plan, and look forward to making further announcements in this regard.”