In what some might consider a bold move, online precious metals and coin dealer Amagi Metals announced Wednesday that they will stop accepting the U.S. dollar as a form of payment at the end of 2016, instead only accepting cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
“Since the dollar was decoupled from gold in 1971, it has lost 97% of its value compared to the yellow metal and 83% of its domestic purchasing power, and the trend shows no signs of stopping,” said Amagi in a press release. “Both investors and foreign governments have begun to lose confidence in the dollar’s future…and so has Amagi Metals. Thus, Amagi has planned that by the end of 2016, the company will no longer accept US dollars or other “fiat” currencies. Instead, Amagi plans to be trading exclusively in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.”
However, customers who still prefer to do transactions in dollars or other fiat currencies won’t be completely out of luck when it comes to making purchases with Amagi at the end of 2016.
“We will offer customers the ability to convert their fiat money to cryptocurrency on our website. They can then use it for purchases from us. Of course, that will be at the exchange rate at that time, whatever it may be,” said Amagi.
Amagi Metals CEO Stephen Macaskill advocates what he calls a “sound money” philosophy, which he believes helps investors preserve their wealth against worldwide governments who arbitrarily issue massive amounts of currency not attached to any real value through practices such as the Fed’s quantitative easing programs.
Macaskill has apparently been a strong cryptocurrency advocate since 2012 and believes that the future of the US dollar is grim, hence the switch to cryptocurrencies by the end of 2016.
“We want to be a leader in the sound money movement,” Macaskill says. “With the adoption of cryptocurrencies increasing every day, their viability is virtually assured. History shows that paper currency, backed by nothing of value, will ultimately fail. It’s only a matter of time until no one will be accepting the dollar. By trading exclusively in cryptocurrencies, we’ll still be in business when that time comes.”
He makes a good point, considering that the average lifespan of a currency is about 27 years. At the current rate of devaluation and inflation, it would be somewhat of a miracle if the U.S. dollar was still around in its current form in 100 years.
Amagi Metals first started accepting cryptocurrencies in November of 2012, focusing mainly on Bitcoin, and Bitcoin now accounts for over 40 percent of the company’s customer payments.
The end of 2016 is still far away, and this is quite a commitment for Amagi to make, especially in the ever-changing and volatile world of cryptocurrencies. It seems that they hold the same belief as many crypto-enthusiasts: If Bitcoin itself isn’t around by the end of 2016, a different, improved cryptocurrency will have taken its place, because decentralized blockchain-based cryptocurrencies in general are here to stay for the foreseeable future.
“Although many are skeptical about Bitcoin due to its recent volatility and uncertain regulatory future, cryptocurrency is a rapidly maturing technology that could present itself as another form of sound money similar to gold and silver,” said Amagi.
