Bitcoin used for Golden hands as Cryptocurrencies meet Mandela Art

It’s one of the more unusual deals in the art world. After more than a decade, an Alberta businessman has finally found a buyer for his prized collection of gold castings of Nelson Mandela’s hand. The final price? Ten million dollars -- in bitcoin.

Attempts by Malcolm Duncan, formerly of South Africa, to sell the hands back in 2007 were scuppered by controversy over provenance and a possible missing charitable donation. This time he’s had better luck, albeit with an unusual buyer.
Little information is available about Arbitrade, an Ontario-based cryptocurrency company, something Chairman Len Schutzman says is about to change.

The company is “weeks away” from doing an initial coin offering and is building a facility in Waterloo, Ontario, to mine its own cryptocurrencies and plans to trade others. Its key selling point, he says, is that it will back all its virtual coins with some percentage of physical metal -- including gold.

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