Table Of Contents
Using gold and silver As payment Options
Overview
Kinesis Pay is a payment platform that enables users to make purchases using gold and silver. The underlying concept is to offer an alternative to conventional fiat currencies, which are subject to inflation and exchange rate fluctuations. By using precious metals as the medium of exchange, the system aims to provide a degree of price stability that is not typically associated with paper currencies.
What Currencies Can Be Used?
- Digital precious metals – All transactions on Kinesis Pay are carried out using Kinesis gold (KAU) and Kinesis silver (KAG). These are digital tokens that represent physical metal held in storage.
- Fiat currency option for merchants – For merchants, there is an additional feature: when setting up their account, they can select a preferred fiat currency, such as dollars or euros, for display purposes. Behind the scenes, the system can convert customer payments into KAU or KAG, allowing businesses to accept payments from customers who are not yet holding precious metal-backed digital assets themselves. This flexibility is intended to lower the barrier for merchants who want to test the system without requiring all their customers to adopt it at the same time.
What Kind of Returns Can Merchants Expect?
Kinesis Pay includes two ways for merchants to earn additional income from their participation:
- Holder’s Yield – If merchants keep their KAU or KAG balances in their Kinesis account rather than cashing them out, they become eligible for a share of the platform’s overall revenue distribution. This is paid out periodically based on the amount they hold.
- Referrer’s Yield – Merchants can earn a portion of the fees generated by clients they introduce to the platform. Specifically, they receive 7.5% of the transaction fees from payments made by those referred clients. The more active clients a merchant refers, the more this stream can grow over time.
These incentives are designed to reward ongoing participation. They also encourage more businesses and customers to join the network, which benefits all users by increasing the volume of transactions. Since the earnings are in gold and silver, merchants are essentially keeping their returns in assets that are not subject to the same inflation risks as paper currency.
What Does the Kinesis Pay app Do?
The Kinesis Pay app is a software add-on that connects to existing online store systems or in-store payment terminals. It is designed to be straightforward to install and does not require special technical knowledge. Merchants can download and set it up on their e-commerce platform or point-of-sale system without needing external technical support. Once installed, the plugin can be activated on the same day, and there are no setup fees or hidden charges for its use.
For customers, payments go through the plugin in a way that feels broadly similar to paying with a card or digital wallet. The plugin works with many common e-commerce platforms, so it can be used by businesses of different sizes and types. For merchants, the main benefit is the ability to accept payments in precious metals without overhauling their existing systems. This can broaden their customer base to include people who prefer asset-backed digital currencies, and it positions the business as one that accepts alternative payment methods, which may appeal to certain segments of buyers.
Costs for Using Kinesis Pay
For merchants, there is no processing fee per transaction. Both the merchant and the customer pay nothing for the payment itself. The plugin is free to download and use, with no monthly charges or installation costs. For buyers, there are also no fees when making purchases with KAU or KAG. In effect, the platform is offered at no direct cost to either party for the payment function. This makes it comparable or favourable to traditional card networks, which typically charge percentage-based fees on each sale. However, it is worth noting that indirect costs may exist, such as the spread between buying and selling prices for the underlying metals, which can affect the effective exchange rate between fiat currency and digital precious metal tokens. These costs are not charged by Kinesis Pay itself but are inherent to any asset-backed currency system.