People prefer to use things that are already known to them. Like the Euro. It works pretty OK for most of us. So why would anyone want to use Gulden when we have the Euro we are so used to already. Are there any advantages in using Gulden? In short: yes there are! In this article we will go step by step through all of them.

Practical issues:

One of the biggest advantages is that you can send Guldens directly to anyone anywhere in the world as easy, fast and cheap as an email. Without intervention or need for a third party, 24/7 and 100% safe.
For these reasons, Gulden as a payment method fits perfectly within the digital age we live in and offers great benefits over other currency and payment methods. Because PayPal, credit cards, internet banking etc. are slow, expensive, ineffective, and you remain dependent on an authority or commercial organization. Also, these types of services are not available at every location. Gulden works worldwide, direct and independently.

Transfer Cost

An ‘oldschool’ bank transaction from, lets say Amsterdam to Rotterdam, can only be processed during office hours and therefore takes in average a full day. But in weekends and public holidays this takes even several days. In addition, the transaction also requires that both parties have a bank account for which a contribution has to be paid. A standard bank account will costs at least a €40.00 a year. But besides that, there are a lot of hidden costs. For example, a debit card payment costs $0.21 per transaction, an iDEAL payment costs at least $0.39 and a credit card payment will cost at least 1.5% of the amount to be paid. Stores hide these transactioncosts in their productprices, but consumers still pay for them.
If you want to make an international payment it will be even more difficult and expensive. Within Europe it’s possible with a SEPA bank transfer, but when transfering money to the US or Australia, it will be another story. It’s expensive (€25,- per transaction) and can take up to a week! You can of course speed up the process by using PayPall or similar services, but they are even more expensive.
On the other hand a Gulden payment from the Netherlands to anywhere in the world costs only 0.01 Gulden (less then a Eurocent) and as mentioned before, is available instantly at the receiving party, 24/7, every day! The only thing you need is the free app and an internet connection.

Micro Payments

Due to the low transaction costs of Gulden, it is very suitable for so-called micro payments such as a sandwich or cup of coffee, automation sales, parking fees, and so on. But also other payments such as purchases at webshops, transfering money to family abroad and grocery shopping are benefiting from those low transaction costs.

Safety

Gulden is also safer than the Euro, it can not be cheated, counterfeiting is impossible. You can also backup and manage Gulden at multiple locations at a time. Gulden works completely digital and therefore it is possible to make payments with your phone. The free Gulden app (wallet) works similar to a banking app and can also be linked to your PC. In this way you can manage the Gulden on your phone with your PC. Very nice if you want to transfer money remotely to your childs phone. If your phone is stolen, you can retreive them via your PC. In addition to your mobile wallet, you can also create other accounts in your wallet on your PC. This gives you the freedom of action that offers much more than the simple runnings and savings accounts of the banks.

Refunds

A Gulden transaction is immediately irreversible. That is, a seller can be sure of the payment. Compare this with the time it takes for a credit card or bank transaction to become irreversible. These can be revoked, contested and/or canceled or otherwise reversed. For credit card payments this can be done up to six months after the transaction! Gulden is irreversible. That gives a recipient of Gulden the trust he will receive his money. Always!

Independant of Banks

A big and more substantial advantage of Gulden is independence. With Gulden you control your own money and payments: nobody checks on you, no-one can block your account.

More importantly, Gulden is independant from banks. In the current Euro money system, the banks have enormous power, not just the central banks but ordinary commercial banks as well. They have the right to create money, and they do so to a large extent. Banks pump money into the economy in the form of debt. If you want to know more about it, search the internet for “money creation”.
Because of this idiosyncratic system, banks are all the more committed to creating more credits and debt, resulting in the banking crisis in 2008 where we still live the consequences. In the end nothing changed and it will just happen again.

Decentralized

Gulden is not managed, issued, or controlled by a bank, company, government, organization, person, or any other authority. It is also not bound to a particular country or region, but is applicable worldwide. It is decentralized and so Gulden is actually the property of anyone who uses it.

De-valuation

Gulden can put an end to the monopoly that banks have on money and payments, and bring this control back to the people themselves, the actual users and owners of the money.

In addition, there is also an important advantage of Gulden over Euro’s, the impossibility of creating more Gulden. Creating money is being abused by governments and banks in the Euro world, with inflation as a consequence. This is not possible with Gulden. The amount of coins is fixed. There are 57600 Guldens mined per day, and in the year 2075 the maximum amount of 1680 million Golds will be reached.

That independence from gulden over governments is not only an advantage in countries with oppressive regimes, but the need for this is also increasing elsewhere. Consider government services that monitor everything, payment information from Europeans spies by the NSA, and so forth. And although the Gulden Blockchain is public, it is still very difficult to track Gulden transactions.

Aat the Kwaasteniet and Gold Test 19/04/2017
Inspired by, inter alia, texts at http://cryptogeld.net/

Read also: Differences between Gulden and Bitcoin