Gold Age

Gold Age was a digital currency exchanger and one of the first independent e-gold exchangers. Gold Age was a registered legal corporate entity of Panama. Gold Age launched in 1999 and closed down in 2006.

Gold Age used to buy and sell the following digital gold currencies:
* e-gold
* e-Bullion
* 1mdc
* Liberty Reserve

Gold Age's fees for exchanging fiat currency into digital gold currency ranged from 4 percent to 1.75 percent, depending on the amount exchanged and if the client was an "Inner Circle Member". Gold Age was an accredited and gold awarded member of the Global Digital Currency Association (GDCA).

US Secret Service raid, March 2001

On March 12, 2001, then Gold Age owner Parker Bradley was detained at his place of business in Syracuse, New York by US Secret Service agents investigating credit card fraud.

"Gold-Age owner Parker Bradley says that during his eight-hour interrogation on March 12, the Secret Service seemed less interested in credit card fraud and more interested in the mechanics of e-gold. Until last year [2000] , Bradley accepted credit cards and paid out e-gold, but said he quit because too many people used stolen credit cards when conducting business with him."

"The interrogation became less about me and more about politics and e-gold," Bradley said. "They were trying to get me to blame e-gold for fraud. Just to be blunt, these guys have no clue about how e-commerce works, how e-gold works or what I was doing." [ [http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,42745,00.html Secret Service Raids Gold-Age] ]

In 2002 Bradley sold the business to new owners. [ [http://www.planetgold.com/interview.asp?SPID=91334475 The sale and re-birth of Gold-Age] ]

Arrest of Gold Age principals, July 2006

On July 27th, 2006 the New York County District Attorney's office announced the indictment of two alleged principals of Gold Age in Brooklyn, New York (for allegedly violating Article 13-B of New York State Banking Law) after a six month sting operation that began in January 2006. [ [http://www.manhattanda.org/whatsnew/press/2006-07-27.html New York County District attorney press release July 27, 2006] ] The two defendants, Arthur Budovsky and Vladimir Kats are currently represented by attorney Igor Niman. [ [http://www.wired.com/wireservice/story.php?nosubnav=true&section=Breaking&storyId=1552850 2 in N.Y. charged with money laundering] ]

Article 13-B of the New York banking law states that it is a felony to transfer money without a license if one knowingly transmits $250,000 or more in a year from a single client in a year; $25,000 or more in 30 days; and $10,000 or more in a single transition.

In January 2006 when the sting operation was begun BusinessWeek had just reported on the use of the e-gold system by ShadowCrew, an 4000-strong international crime syndicate involved in massive identity theft and fraud [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_02/b3966094.htm] . Omar Dhanani of Fountain Valley, California, connected to the ShadowCrew, is an e-gold customer and is said to have moved amounts ranging from $40,000 to $100,000 a week from proceeds of crime through e-gold. [http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2006/01/23/stories/2006012300060100.htm] . There was and is no indication that Gold Age was in any way involved with, or even used to innocently sell e-gold to ShadowCrew members.

"We believe they are innocent," said Igor Niman, lawyer for Budvosky and Kats. "We believe this is a legitimate business practice, which does not require a state license." [ [https://www.hemscott.com/news/latest-news/item.do?newsId=35199404714529 2 men charged in alleged banking scheme | Latest News | News | Hemscott ] ]

Political attack against non-fiat currencies?

It has been observed [ [https://financialcryptography.com/mt/archives/000640.html G&SR / e-gold case in Washington DC court] ] that given the burgeoning size of the digital gold currency economy the attack on Gold Age is an indirect attack on e-gold and other digital gold currencies themselves. It is perceived that the size of digital gold standard economy is beginning to pose a threat to Fiat currency such as the United States Federal Reserve notes (AKA US dollars) given the rise in the value of gold in comparison to those fiat currencies, and the rising popularity of digital gold denominated sound money like e-gold.

(As of May 2006, e-gold had 3,784,689 grams of gold in storage, which is worth approximately US$86 million. There are typically 66,000 e-gold spends each day, with a total value each day of about US$10.5 million (that is, about 460 kilograms of gold). In comparison, PayPal handles transfers of approximately US$60 million per day.)

In a response on 6 January 2006 to the "slanderous and unfounded article" in BusinessWeek about e-gold [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_02/b3966094.htm] , Dr. Douglas Jackson, Chairman, e-gold, Ltd. issued a statement [ [http://www.e-gold.com/letter.html Letter from Dr. Douglas Jackson; Chairman, e-gold, Ltd.] ] regarding the regulatory status of its business:

"Gold & Silver Reserve has been operating for over nine years. Seeking to comply with every applicable law, G&SR has reached out to the Government dozens of times, has repeatedly met with officials from the Internal Revenue Service, the FBI, SEC and a variety of other Federal agencies, and has been told – in no uncertain terms – that we were operating legally and in full compliance with all laws, rules and regulations. Additionally, the Government has requested from us – on more than three hundred occasions – information regarding individuals it believed to be lawbreakers. Gold & Silver Reserve complied with every single request in a professional and timely fashion. Numerous Government officials have gone so far as to commend us in writing for our efforts in complying with their requests and aiding them in their investigations."

"Very recently, however, the Government concluded that it was unable to “regulate” our business under any current statutes or regulations. Rather than moving Congress to enact legislation, the Government apparently chose to undertake to regulate us under pre-existing statutes which are totally and utterly inapplicable to our business. To do so, the case the Government brought against Gold & Silver Reserve centered around false statements and fabrications made to a Magistrate Judge in Washington , D.C. A week later, when challenged by that Judge, the Government, fearing it would lose its case filed a second suit against Gold & Silver Reserve. We are now addressing that action and are confident that we will be victorious in a very short time."

Other DCEs with regulatory issues

In September 2004, several Australian based e-gold currency exchangers ceased operation as they did not hold an Australian Financial Services licence (AFSL) [http://www.fido.asic.gov.au/fido/fido.nsf/byheadline/04-366+ASIC+acts+to+shut+down+electronic+currency+trading+websites?openDocument] . Australian based digital currency exchangers (DCEs) that closed down voluntarily, due to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) licencing requirements, included:
* goldex.net
* sydneygoldsales.com
* ozzigold.com

References

ee also

* Digital gold currency
* e-gold

External links

* [http://www.goldage.net/ Gold Age website] (website used as a DGC forum since August 2006)
* [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.goldage.net Web archive for Gold Age] (Sep 2002 to Aug 2006)