$DIG cryptocurrency holders take note of important changes to Dignity Gold chairman’s online CV

Many holders of Dignity ($DIG) cryptocurrency tokens were encouraged by changes that Kent Swig made to his online curriculum vitae this week.

Swig is the chairman of Dignity Holdings, LLC, as well as the chairman of its subsidiary companies. Changes to the online CV which occurred this week included the additions of these previously unlisted subsidiary companies:

  • DigPay, LLC an app‐based digital payment platform, like PayPal or Venmo, that stores currencies that users buy, sell and exchange, and unlike Venmo, DigPay can send cryptocurrencies peer to peer as well;
  • Dignity X, LLC a cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to instantly buy, sell or exchange cryptocurrencies

Significantly, changes were made to the reference to the subsidiary company Dignity Gold, LLC. That portion of Swig’s CV now reads:

Dignity Gold, LLC, which owns the cryptocurrency Dignity Gold that trades under the symbol DIGG.

Previously, the cryptocurrency was listed as Dignity (not Dignity Gold) and the symbol was listed as DIG (not DIGG). These changes lend credence to the widespread speculation that Dignity Gold will conduct a “swap” of its existing tokens.

Exactly what is a token swap? In its simplest terms, it is the digital upgrade of an older version of an existing token with a newer version, executed by the organization that holds the contract for the token. For instance, Dignity ($DIG) is currently in its third version.

Some token swaps are executed by what is known as an “airdrop:” updated versions of the token are placed in every known blockchain wallet where the original token is located, and the older version is then deemed valueless. An airdrop is a possibility for $DIG, but only for a direct replacement of the current version of $DIG by a newer version.

In the specific instance of $DIG and $DIGG, one of the possible scenarios is that a new token contract ($DIGG) would be deployed on the Ethereum blockchain, and people holding $DIG will be able to trade their tokens for the new $DIGG in a ratio decided upon by the company. To meet United States regulatory guidelines, any tokens distributed by Delaware-registered Dignity Gold would have to be done via an exchange that enforces Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards.

In most basic terms, this means people creating accounts on a KYC/AML exchange must provide the following information:

  • Name
  • Date of birth
  • Address
  • Identification number (usually from some government-issued ID, such as a driver’s license or passport)

Livecoin, the exchange on which DIG has traded for most of its existence, does not require KYC/AML documentation for its account holders. It has not been announced officially, but the presumption is that in order to meet U.S. regulatory guidelines, the forthcoming Dignity X exchange has already committed to enforcing the KYC/AML guidelines. It would not be surprising if $DIG holders are offered the opportunity to trade their $DIG for $DIGG after creating an account on the forthcoming Dignity X exchange.

While there was no press release relative to the changes made in Swig’s online CV, it can certainly be presumed that the addition of details to the online CV of the chairman of all of the companies was authorized by Swig himself.

Scarcity of public communication from official sources has been a point of contention and concern for DIG holders for much of the token’s existence.

In August 2019, Dignity Gold LLC said in a press release that it would have a full gold bar audit conducted in the near future by Bureau Veritas, a recognized industry leader in precious metal auditing. The release of a gold bar audit conducted in the months of August and September 2019 was expected to accomplish two things:

  1. Give Dignity token investors the proof many have sought that there is verifiable gold backing the token, and
  2. An audit that confirms the existence and control of the gold in current time, not months ago.

According to the August 15, 2019 press release:

SION Trading FZE is supplying the safe keeping receipt (SKR) for the gold that is backing Dignity Gold and has entered into an official agreement with Bureau Veritas to verify and count the gold. Under the supervision of Joseph Chapman, North American Audits Manager, Metals and Minerals Division at Bureau Veritas, company executives in Dubai will be counting the initial $3 billion out of Dignity Gold’s 395,000 kilograms of gold provided under the SKR agreement. The first verification will be completed in September 2019.

Dignity Gold LLC and previous entities that have been in control of the gold-backed Dignity token have claimed that there are 395,000 kilograms of gold under control to back Dignity (DIG). This equals more than 435 U.S. tons. If there are indeed 395,000 kilograms of gold to back the Dignity token, it was worth more than $21 billion USD on March 6, 2020.

The “initial $3 billion” of gold supply coincides numerically with the reported actual number of DIG tokens which were in circulation in August of 2019, 3 billion. However, the news release did not state any definitive connection between the two figures.

Despite the statement that the first gold audit verification would be completed in September, audit results were not released publicly at that time. An October 2 news release from the company said that the audit results would be completed at the end of November 2019. SION Trading FZE of Dubai — with which Dignity Gold has contracted to provide gold to back its Dignity token under a Safe Keeping Receipt (SKR) agreement — was finalizing the coordination of internal security and its logistic team for the counting of the gold, which is located in Dubai, the October 2 announcement said. No other reasons were cited in the news release for the delay.

The end of November and then December came and went with neither the release of an audit nor another press release.

On January 19, 2020, Dignity Gold CEO Stephen Braverman tweeted:

Then on February 13, Dignity Gold LLC issued this statement via press release:

Dignity Gold, LLC has again announced that it has uncovered irregularities in the trading of the Dignity (DIG) token resulting from the unauthorized and improper minting of new tokens. As a result, some Dignity coins purchased after 1/18/2020 may not be valid. A formal complaint was immediately issued to Livecoin.net, however they have not responded.

Dignity Gold, LLC, is taking swift and appropriate action to address the issue and will release further information during the week of 3/16/2020 with a strong and detailed path forward.

No further information on the nature of the irregularities has been released through official channels. It is possible, but certainly not confirmed, that the information released the week of March 16 will relate more specifically to what “irregularities” occurred, and what has been done to address them, if anything. It is also possible that the process by which $DIG holders can trade into $DIGG may be outlined that week.

$DIG holders were recently advised by Impact Partners, Dignity Gold’s new public relations firm, to subscribe to Dignity Gold’s informational emails at dignitygold.com. (The email subscription form appears as you scroll down the homepage screen.) To the best of our knowledge, no emails have yet been sent to subscribers.

Other signs of progress

The update of Swig’s online CV is not the only recent sign that a launch for $DIG and Dignity Gold may be on the near horizon. On February 27, 2020, Dignity Gold announced three new corporate advisor engagements via a press release, including:

Tritaurian Capital

Tritaurian Capital, a FINRA registered U.S. investment bank serves as the compliance consultant to Dignity Gold, LLC and is the foremost expert in compliant and regulated security token offerings. It is the first broker/dealer to be approved for a license to sell digital private placement securities using distributed ledger technology, otherwise known as blockchain technology. Tritaurian believes that blockchain-based securities offer the opportunity to improve record-keeping and transparency through the open nature of blockchains while increasing security and compliance through the programmable nature of blockchain tokens. By capitalizing on the background of its principals in investment banking, entrepreneurial growth companies and transformational technologies, Tritaurian examines every angle and opportunity for its clients in order to provide the highest quality financial advice and service possible.

Carlton Fields

Carlton Fields serves as legal counsel to Dignity Gold, LLC and is one of the leading firms in the United States within the practice of Securities and Investors. Specifically, the securities industry turns to Carlton Fields for its regulatory, enforcement, litigation, corporate finance and corporate needs. The National practice serves publicly-held corporations as well as the broker-dealer, investment advisor, and investment company components of the Securities Industry.

Impact Partners

Impact Partners serves as the public and investor relations firm to Dignity Gold, LLC. The partners of Impact Partners have been senior advisors to some of the world’s most prestigious organizations, CEOs, as well as counseled multiple heads of state. The firm provides companies and their leadership with the insights and access necessary to activate competitive advantages that drive business results. With powerful connections across the global business and media landscape, their expertise puts their clients into the right rooms, with the right people at the right time. Their current client roster consists of leading venture capital firms, family offices / high net worth investors, and the companies they each invest their monies.