The New Gold Clause: the use of inflation resistant digital assets in contracts

Every day we are seeing the effects of monetary inflation on common items, building supplies, food, gasoline, and other daily commodities. This is directly the result of a vast expansion of the money supply by governments. This article focuses on how to use digital assets to mitigate the inflationary effects expanding the money supply, first by examining the strategies of our forefathers, secondly by using modern digital assets in the same manner.Good as GoldA gold clause is a provision within a contract that requires consideration to be paid in gold or another particular type of currency upon request. The creditor can insist on payment either in gold or another type of currency equivalent to gold. With the advent of digital assets, consideration in a contract can now be defined not in gold, currency, or money but in terms of digital assets that are depreciation-resistant. This enables the evolution away from money, currency, or precious metals in contracts towards non-monetary consideration and only real assets.Allegory on monetary inflation in Japan 1860s — debasing gold coins creates more gold coins.Source: WikipediaWhy gold?Creditors involved in long-term contracts benefit from gold clauses when there are concerns about inflation, changes in government, war, or other events that may change the value of a commonly exchanged currency. These clauses were popular in the early 1900s until President Roosevelt issued executive orders confiscating all personally held gold.In 1913, the Federal Reserve Act mandated that all Federal Reserve Notes, also known as ‘paper money’, needed to be backed by the gold that was in the possession of the federal government. Roosevelt believed that issuing more money would help the economy, so he confiscated all gold and gave its holder’s paper money. It became a criminal act to possess more than 5 ounces of gold, punishable by 10 years…