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Cryptonized: OroPocket Launches India’s First Gold-Backed Token on Tezos

Ever since the Supreme Court lifted banking restrictions for exchanges earlier this year, crypto has been booming in India. Now, fintech platform OroPocket is tokenizing gold and silver on the Tezos blockchain protocol.

India’s first gold or silver-based token, OroPocket, has tapped blockchain consulting firm TZ APAC to advise them on their Asia business strategy using the Tezos blockchain.

“We aim to provide the highest security possible for our users and we recognized this strength in Tezos after conducting several trials with various blockchain protocols,” Mohit Madan, CEO of OroPocket, said in a statement.

“We at TZ APAC are excited to advise the team at OroPocket to launch their service on the Tezos blockchain. We see India as a very important blockchain market in Asia. By offering the very first gold and silver-backed digital assets on Tezos, it opens up a tremendous opportunity to reach the vast potential of users in the Indian market,” said David Shin, Head of Asia at TZ APAC.

“To better facilitate a successful deployment, we have also tapped our local strategic partner, Tezos India, who will aid the team at OroPocket with technical support, development tools as well as community outreach activities which are crucial for its sustainable growth,” he added.

The Advantage of Gold and Silver

This move positions OroPocket as one of the first movers in the convergence of the strong cultural significance of gold in India with emerging technological trends.

The advantage with gold or silver-backed tokens is that users can independently track and verify their holdings at any time, removing the need for the tedious process of consulting a notary.

The usage of a blockchain protocol allows all shareholding information to be transparent, accurate, and thorough. These tokenized assets – “XTZGold” and “XTZSilver” – are backed by physical gold and silver assets in a 1:1 ratio, which is audited daily by third parties and stored in vaults in the UK, Switzerland, and Singapore.

Users can invest as little as 0.01 USD to hold XTZGold or XTZSilver. All the assets are fully insured by Marsh Ltd. with Galmerly Ltd. as the appointed custodian.

Less Forking

Furthermore, Madan explained that the on-chain governance feature of Tezos reduces the likelihood of forking.

Forking occurs as a result of a disagreement on improvements to a blockchain protocol, leading to a split of the blockchain, which produces two versions of digital representations of assets in the network.

“Users would then have to go through a troublesome process of having to clarify which version is valid. On-chain governance on Tezos avoids this problem altogether and allows sustainable scalability and consistency in upgradability in a constantly evolving technology landscape,” he said.

Low Transaction Fees

The comparatively low transaction fees of Tezos is another key factor, said Madan.

“Tezos’ comparatively low transaction fees are another key factor that aligns with OroPocket’s goal of ensuring financial inclusivity through the removal of the hefty fees commonly imposed by traditional banks. OroPocket allows users to send gold or silver to anyone across the globe within seconds at only a charge of 0.25% fee on all transactions, without any storage, insurance, or hidden fees,” he said.

Ethereum gas fees have been elevated over the past month from September 19-October 18 at US$2.46, while Tezos has maintained gas fees below US$0.01 over the same period, at a monthly average of 0.006427 USD for the same period. This makes Tezos gas fees over 380 times cheaper than on Ethereum, enabling more cost-effective deployment of decentralized applications on Tezos.

In addition to this tokenization of assets, OroPocket is working to offer add-on services on top of these fractional assets such as asset-backed debit cards, instant loans, and remittances. These debit cards provide users with high liquidity as they can shop online, offline, or withdraw cash at ATMs.

TZ APAC

TZ APAC Pte. Ltd. (“TZ APAC”) is a leading Asia-based public blockchain consultancy focused on the Tezos ecosystem achieving strategic impact in Asia. TZ APAC designs blockchain transformation strategies for enterprises with a bottom-up approach.

Their goal is to identify and expand corporate and institutional partnerships in the region. Another goal is to source and engage local teams that can contribute to the development of the Tezos ecosystem. TZ APAC is supported by the Tezos Foundation and is based in Singapore.

OroPocket

Oropocket is a fintech platform that is empowering users to be able to indulge in 100% asset-backed banking on blockchain. They allow users to invest in multiple asset classes on one platform and provide financial services. They connect real world assets and DeFi- by creating a protocol called OpenDefi, which enables cross-chain value creation and allows users to be able to get flash loans or yield on their holdings.

Navanwita Bora Sachdev

Navanwita is the editor of The Tech Panda who also frequently publishes stories in news outlets such as The Indian Express, Entrepreneur India, and The Business Standard