Totenpass – The New Paradigm in the Permanent Storage of Precious Digital Data
TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–$XAU #Goldmoney–Goldmoney Inc. (TSX:XAU) (US:XAUMF) (“Goldmoney” or the “Company”), a precious metal financial service and technology company, is releasing additional information about its 55% owned subsidiary Totenpass Inc. which has been under confidential development since 2017.
Totenpass Inc. is a Canadian corporation which has been developing a permanent digital storage drive constructed from solid gold that requires no energy and has no movable parts. Digital data is written onto the drive by way of a proprietary light-diffraction process which imprints images, documents, and other files that can be stored as either human readable without the aid of computers or machine-readable with the employ of a smartphone.
This technology allows for the permanent storage of precious digital data, thereby eliminating any future dependence on the internet and the vast amounts of energy required presently to store content. By consequence, this technology will empower both individuals and corporations to decentralize, preserve and fully control their precious digital data once and forever.
The company was founded by Goldmoney CEO Roy Sebag, Bruce Ha, formerly director of optical media at Kodak, and Goldmoney CTO Alessandro Premoli. Goldmoney has made a series of investments in the company since 2017 and currently owns a majority of the outstanding shares. The rest of the shares are held by Bruce Ha and other employees. Mr. Sebag does not own any shares directly but only via his ownership of Goldmoney.
Totenpass White paper
A 22 page white paper has been published providing further information about the technology: https://www.totenpass.com/pdf/Totenpass-Whitepaper-January-2021.pdf
Statement from Roy Sebag, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer:
Recent geopolitical events have inspired Goldmoney to provide a formal update to our shareholders about Totenpass Inc., a technology business we have been building since 2017. Goldmoney founded Totenpass to address a problem that we at Goldmoney have identified as of great concern, perhaps even more so than the risks we have historically focused on relating to the financial system and fiat currency: The risk that the internet and thus our precious digital information is becoming increasingly centralized.
I considered whether this trend represented not only a major inversion of the general direction in the decentralization of knowledge since the Gutenberg printing press and feel that the person behind the machine is being severed from the control and ownership of their precious data. This centralization reminds me of the kinds of systemic risks I identified within the global financial system leading up to the global financial crisis of 2008. Consequently, we sought to invent a technology that would empower global citizens to regain control over their digital data thereby preserving the precious data which they find meaningful once and forever in a permanent physical form factor.
We hope to be in a position to launch Totenpass in beta before the end of 2021 but it is important to stress that this timeline may change. While the business model is relatively simple – sell physical storage drives via an online e-commerce model –the technology is novel and rather complex with some challenges still remaining ahead of us. While we have successfully designed a working prototype and built out a manufacturing and distribution facility in Rochester, NY by acquiring the former space and equipment occupied by Kodak R&D, there are still some technical milestones which must be met before we are able to launch a comprehensive working model. In part, this was why we have resisted discussing this venture but as I mentioned above, recent events inspired us to accelerate our work and we think shareholders should be made aware of the solution we are working on to what we believe to be a profound problem. It is also important to mention that Totenpass is fully funded through launch and that all capital expenditures thus far have been supported from ongoing cash flows and expensed. Finally, I do not intend to take on the CEO role for this business.
Statement from Bruce Ha Co-Founder of Totenpass Inc.:
Several years ago, I was asked to create one of the most ambitious permanent archives in history, a library for the moon. It would contain 30 million pages of information documenting Earth and humanity. In it were volumes of information including the English Wikipedia and countless stories and photos of humanity’s accomplishments and knowledge.
The media was made from nickel which is impervious to solar radiation as well as being able to withstand the harsh climate of space and the moon. I worked with the space team to develop the payload integration package housing the library and subsequently was on the team working with NASA and Stephen Wolfram on the forensics of the subsequent crash landing.
Although nickel has tremendous preservation characteristics, there is another element that is even better and more permanent, gold. When Roy Sebag approached me with the idea of preserving precious information on this precious metal, I thought it was a perfect match due to its natural properties but as an engineer and scientist I could not quite see how this could be done economically. This was a view I knew most engineers shared and was why as a general rule, gold and other precious metals are eschewed in material science research and development. It was Roy and his partners unique understanding of the precious metal which allowed us to surmount these challenges which I believe have precluded gold from being the pre-eminent data storage material.
Our partnership evolved into the formation of a company and a working prototype of a permanent digital storage drive. With this invention, no information can ever be lost to the ravages of time. We share the same passion and concern for information that is getting exponentially ephemeral. Collectively, we will create a new paradigm that reintroduces permanence and physical control of personal information.
Today most of the world’s knowledge and thus our societal legacy is stored on digital devices that, over a short period of time, will disappear if they are not regenerated or backed up. Digital encryption has gotten so sophisticated that if a chunk of the bitstream is damaged, information is lost forever (assuming a reader is available to retrieve the information in a few decades). Even the cloud is controlled by someone else and is relegated to just bits on spinning discs that will eventually stop functioning and need to be replaced.
Everyone has a story and collectively those stories make history and comprise a legacy for humanity. We find comfort in the stories of our faith, our country, our heroes, our knowledge of math and science, our arts and music, our family, and our passion. The Totenpass technology we have been developing will preserve these most important moments, these memories, and this knowledge once and forever in a physical form factor.
About Goldmoney Inc.
Goldmoney Inc. (TSX: XAU) is a precious metal focused global business. Through its ownership of various operating subsidiaries, the company is engaged in precious metal sales to its clients, including arranging delivery and storage of precious metals for its clients, coin retailing, and lending. Goldmoney clients located in over 150 countries hold nearly $3 billion in precious metal assets. The company’s operating subsidiaries include: Goldmoney.com, SchiffGold.com and Goldmoney Lend & Borrow. In addition to the Company’s principal business segments, the Company holds significant equity interests in Menē Inc., which crafts pure 24-karat gold and platinum investment jewelry that is sold by gram weight and Totenpass Inc. which is developing a permanent digital storage drive constructed of solid gold. Through these businesses and other investment activities, Goldmoney gains long-term exposure to precious metals. For more information about Goldmoney, visit goldmoney.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains or refers to certain forward-looking information. Forward-looking information can often be identified by forward-looking words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “plan”, “intend”, “estimate”, “may”, “potential” and “will” or similar words suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. All information other than information regarding historical fact, which addresses activities, events or developments that the Goldmoney Inc. believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, is forward-looking information. Forward-looking information does not constitute historical fact but reflects the current expectations the Company regarding future results or events based on information that is currently available. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking information will not occur. Such forward-looking information in this release speak only as of the date hereof.
Forward-looking information in this release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to: the potential for the development and commercialization of Totenpass Inc.; service times for transactions on the Goldmoney network; growth of the Company’s business, expected results of operations, and the market for the Company’s products and services and competitive conditions. This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time it was made, and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others: the inability to develop and commercialize the products of Totenpass Inc. on the basis as contemplated or at all; the Company’s operating history; future capital needs and uncertainty of additional financing; fluctuations in the market price of the Company’s common shares; the effect of government regulation and compliance on the Company and the industry; legal and regulatory change and uncertainty; jurisdictional factors associated with international operations; foreign restrictions on the Company’s operations; product development and rapid technological change; dependence on technical infrastructure; protection of intellectual property; use and storage of personal information and compliance with privacy laws; network security risks; risk of system failure or inadequacy; the Company’s ability to manage rapid growth; competition; the ability to identify opportunities for growth internally and through acquisitions and strategic relationships on terms which are economic or at all; effectiveness of the Company’s risk management and internal controls; use of the Company’s services for improper or illegal purposes; uninsured and underinsured losses; theft & risk of physical harm to personnel; precious metal trading risks; volatility of precious metals prices & public interest in precious metals investment; an inability to predict and counteract the effects of COVID-19 on the business of the Company, including but not limited to the effects of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases presenting as major health issues on the price of precious metals, capital market conditions, restriction on labour and international travel and supply chains; and those risks set out in the Company’s most recently filed annual information form, available on SEDAR. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, except as required by law.
Contacts
Media and Investor Relations inquiries:
Renee Wei
Director of Global Communications
Goldmoney Inc.
renee.wei@goldmoney.com