In a very interesting, yet unusual announcement today, precious metal vendor Amagi Metals announced that once the year 2016 is over, they will focus their attention away from accepting US dollars as a means of payment.
The announcement, made on the company’s website recently, cites decreased confidence in the dollar over the years as the main reason for their movement away from traditional currency:
[blockquote style=”2″]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. 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.[/blockquote]
Instead, the company is turning to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin in order to conduct trades. Cryptocurrency, according to Amagi CEO Stephen Macaskill, fits the definition of what he considers to be “sound money” — something the company has advocated since their founding in 2010.
“We want to be a leader in the sound money movement,” he said in a statement published on the company’s website. “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.”
Amagi has been accepting cryptocurrency as a means of payment since 2012, and presently, bitcoin accounts for about 40 percent of sales.
But if you thought Amagi was planning to reject customers offering to pay in fiat, you’re mistaken.
“We will offer customers the ability to convert their fiat money to cryptocurrency on our website,” Macaskill added. “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.”
