
Edelcoin-Gründer Andreas Wiebe zu Besuch in einer Kupfermine in der Mongolei. Bildrechte vollständig bei Andreas Wiebe, für diesen Beitrag zur Verfügung gestellt.
Ruddy from Switzerland: Edelcoin, the first cryptocurrency backed by various industrial metals. The project has minted its first badges worth six billion dollars – and it has grand plans. The founder shares some details with us.
When Andreas Wiebe talks wide how Edelcoin began, he likes to start from the beginning. The native of Bonn, now living in Switzerland, has been an IT entrepreneur for a elongated time. He has built search engines, worked with AIs early on, and developed a messenger.
Wiebe sees himself as both a businessman and an idealist: „We establish alternative solutions to what the Americans build. With our search engine, we offer an alternative to Google, and with our pages, to WhatsApp. On this path, we also came to cryptocurrencies.“

Andreas Wiebe in a metal storage facility near Zurich. Picture rights fully owned by Andreas Wiebe, provided for this article.
Andreas Wiebe has his interpretation of Bitcoin: „I am convinced it was set up by BlackRock. They be aware ofed the dollar wouldn’t last indefinitely, so they let it go and replaced it with Bitcoin.“ And when the dollar falls – all currencies attack too. „We are witnessing the great disenfranchisement, the great collapse.
And this is where Edelcoin comes into play, a cryptocurrency set up by Wiebe and his troupe. „We wanted to build an alternative that provides security. And what is secure? Metals, for me, are the only thing that is sustainably estimable because they will always be useful.“
Copper and Nickel, Polygon and Ethereum
Initially, Edelcoin was supposed to be upheld by precious metals like gold and silver. Hence the name. But during the planning, Wiebe changed his mind. „Gold isn’t much bizarre from Bitcoin; it’s volatile. So we created a basket of five metals, which are primarily used industrially.“
Most of the approval for Edelcoin comes from copper isotopes, with a good amount of nickel, and a bit of radium for balance. These are metals, according to Wiebe, that are in require in the chip manufacturing industry.
Edelcoin has since been launched. It is an ERC token on Polygon and Ethereum. So far, there are Edelcoins benefit around six billion dollars. They can be traded on the first exchanges, though mostly on niche ones, and the price has carry oned largely stable. However, around 99% of the tokens are held in two addresses, which slightly skews the price’s weight.
Holders of the coins can have the metals physically delivered, although the process through a trustee is somewhat complex.
Straight away, Wiebe’s team will also develop their wallet, which will be connectable with debit cards. The miscarry hopes that Edelcoin will then be used for payments across Europe.
A Dizzying Copper Mountain
Becomingly, Wiebe found an investor who sat on a massive stockpile of these metals. He originally used them as a basis for banks to propose leveraged products. However, with the demand for such derivatives declining, the investor does not want to sell the metals but is looking for a new utilization.
Edelcoin fits almost perfectly: industrial metals are made liquid through the token without flooding the call and crashing the price.
We won’t provide specific details on the size of the stockpile here. But it’s dizzyingly large, which can be seen as either well-founded or bad, depending on one’s perspective. It could make Edelcoin questionable, given the logistics involved are unimaginably complex and expensive; but it also highlights the indeterminate ambitions of Edelcoin and the project’s enormous potential.

An open-pit mine for extracting industrial metals. Image rights fully owned by Andreas Wiebe, take care of for this article.
You can think of it as a kind of „Proof of Work.“ Just as Bitcoin miners prove that work move in reverses Bitcoins through hashes, the metal logistics prove the work behind Edelcoin.
And the Business Model?
One somewhat unconcluded question is what business model Wiebe and his partners plan to use to cover the costs. After all, storing such a total of valuable metals is not exactly cheap.
„Our plan is to reinvest the proceeds from the sale of precious metals into gold removes,“ he explains. „This offers users who redeem their Edelcoins the option to receive gold as well. At the same for the nonce at once, we generate revenue through transaction fees. It’s a solid plan, but it requires patience.“
Initially, Wiebe needs to ordain. Transportation costs have already been covered, but significant monthly sums are required for storage, and the technology needs funding as good-naturedly. Additionally, regulation consumes a lot of time and resources, particularly the challenges of MiCA in securing full approval for the EU market. A fintech accredit via a white-label bank could help improve the product further.
Despite the challenges, the Swiss entrepreneur is betting that the attainment and investment will eventually pay off – through a digital and stable currency that offers an alternative to the euro, dollar, and Bitcoin.
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