In the long and convoluted timeline of the problems at the Perth Mint, something very innocuous that happened in August 2019 took on much greater significance this week.
Gathering in a conference room in the last week of that month were the board of directors of the Gold Corporation, which runs the Mint, including Chairman Sam Walsh, then-CEO Richard Hayes and government representative on the board Richard Wilson, along with with six other board members. members
Together, they signed off on the Perth Mint to start working with a company that would develop their now ill-fated cryptocurrency.
The group could hardly have known this at the time, but their decisions have sparked even more interest at the mint, as the fate of the Perth Mint Gold Token (PMGT) kept up questions about the taxpayer-owned refinery fire for another week, both in parliament and in the media.
Jumping into crypto
Two months after that meeting, the Singaporean technology company Trovio launched the PMGT.
Marketing used on the Perth Mint Gold Token website, described as being issued by Trovio in collaboration with the Perth Mint Australia.(Powered by: pmgt.io)
It bears the Mint's mark and is guaranteed by the gold stored in its vaults, but the Mint has been trying to keep it at bay this week by explaining that it was not their product, despite that.
At the time it was released to the world, a press release quoted Mr. Hayes as "delighted" to be working with Trovio to "promote gold as a core asset."
But despite the publicity of the good news at the time, no one considered it important enough to come to the attention of Prime Minister Mark McGowan, who was then the minister responsible for the mint.
Fast forward three years and a bit and the PM is no longer responsible for the $22 billion behemoth of a refinery, having handed over ministerial oversight to Bill Johnston in 2021.
