Gold-trading apps surge as investors seek safe haven

Goldex, Glint and Vaulted report year-on-year spikes of up to 2,800 per cent.

With global markets in chaos and investors desperate for a safe haven, the price of gold is surging and a new generation of investors are turning to apps for their gold fix.

Goldex, the London-based gold trading app and winner of the AltFi London Summit 2019 Fintech Pitch Off, saw trading volumes for March up 2,800 per cent compared to 2019.

In fact, the first quarter of 2020 has seen more trading than the whole of 2019, and cash deposits into the app have grown 500 per cent since January.

In the words of CEO Sylvia Carrasco, gold is “as hot as toilet paper”.

Gold started 2020 at around £1,185 an ounce and spiked as high as £1,395 last week before ending the month at £1,309.

At the same time the FTSE 100 and S&P 500 indices have fallen 27.5 per cent and 21.3 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, rival gold trading apps are seeing similar gains in their usebases.

Glint Pay, which was rescued out of administration in November 2019, told MarketWatch its trading volumes had increased 718 per cent in the last five weeks.

“Sales are going through the roof,” said CEO and founder Jason Cozens. “We are breaking records everyday.”

US-based gold trading app Vaulted likewise reported a 540 per cent jump in March’s trading volumes, with Tuesday 24 March setting a record for the most trades in one day in the company’s history.

Revolut, which only launched gold-trading through its mobile app on 12 March, has yet to publish figures on its trading to-date.

As countries around the world attempt to contain coronavirus and restore confidence in their economies, the gold bull market looks set to continue.

It’s a very good time to be in the gold trading app business.