Dutch Bank Moves €15B in Gold Across Country

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) recently transported a total of 15 billion euros worth of gold bars, coins, and banknotes over the span of four weeks. This is a task that Bitcoin can handle in minutes for far cheaper.

The Dutch central bank completed the high-value transfer after months of planning. However, Bitcoin could have accomplished the task within minutes. 

Bitcoin a Solution to the Hassle of Physical Transfer

The operation involved relocating the Dutch gold and cash reserves from the vault in Haarlem. According to Dutch broadcaster NOS, the stash was brought to the recently opened Cash Centre in Zeist.

The transfer included cash worth about 4.5 billion euros and about 200,000 kilograms of gold bars and coins. Bitcoin network could have saved the hassle, one could argue.

Back in November 2020, they reportedly performed a similar transfer from Amsterdam to Haarlem in response to workplace renovations. A time when covid lockdowns were shooting Bitcoin transactions.

According to Captain Stan Verwerkt of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee police, transporting such a precious load of cash and gold needs careful planning. Additionally, the forces in the Royal Netherlands work with specialized groups with assistance from the police and military.

DNB division director Coen Voormeulen reiterated that a small group of authorized individuals was actively involved. Officials informed the paper that stringent security procedures were in place, and information was restricted to maintain confidentiality.

However, no one can ensure 100% security with this process. According to a previous report by BeInCrypto, a cargo container led to a large loss in April. Approximately $15 million worth of gold and valuables had reportedly gone missing from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. The theft occurred after the plane’s cargo was moved to a holding facility and unloaded.

Low Fees, More Efficiency

Advocates of Bitcoin argue that cryptocurrency provides a simple solution to this issue, especially when it comes to large-value payments.

Bitcoin has several benefits over traditional value transfer methods, including increased security, decentralization, and high transaction efficiency. Bitcoin is more attractive than the costly and time-consuming process of planning and executing physical transfers of value.

By paying a transaction cost of about $0.26, a user could transfer approximately 107,000 Bitcoin worth $670 million in 2020. This emphasizes how expensive and logistically difficult it would be to execute such a sizable transfer using a conventional bank. In the subsequent year, a cryptocurrency wallet facilitated another transfer of nearly $1 billion worth of Bitcoin, with the sender incurring a fee of slightly over $100.

A growing number of investors and speculators realized the usefulness of Bitcoin’s digital transactions as economies globally started shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amid the outbreak, Bitcoin also rose in value to a record high in 2021.

Lately, Bitcoin has been experiencing high transaction demand. As a result, the popularity of routine transactions has dramatically increased the size of the Bitcoin blockchain since the beginning of the year. Since February, the blockchain has grown by almost 24GB (gigabytes) of data, according to data by Glassnode.