Many people are losing confidence in the Federal Reserve fiat money system and are turning towards crypto-currencies and other commodities to escape steady inflation. While these people mean well, this turn into alternatives puts them risk of incurring a capital gains tax on every transaction. For example, if someone purchased a bitcoin for $200 and then spent it at a $2,000 value, they would be liable for as much as a 28% capital gain tax on the $1,800 increase. In recent years the IRS has become more aggressive in collecting this tax.

    Alpine Gold solves this issue for the UPMA by offering accounts denominated in U.S. Silver or Gold coin. Since the time of President Reagan, the Treasury of the United States has minted U.S dollars in the form of gold and silver coins. These coins are legal tender just like Federal Reserve notes. This means transactions made with gold or silver coins are not considered barter transactions, and therefore can not be taxed as such.

     One ounce of U.S. minted silver is stamped with a one dollar face value. Conversely, one ounce of U.S. minted gold is stamped with a fifty dollar face value. Members may own fractions of a coin. For example, if a member had five and a half ounces of silver in their account it would show as $5.50 Silver Dollars. If a member owned a half ounce of gold then their account would display $25 gold dollars.

     By using these U.S. minted gold and silver coins members can protect themselves from the depreciation of the Federal Reserve Note while avoiding the tax penalties of bartering with bitcoin or other non-legal-tender precious metals.

There are also Goldbacks available, which are excellent for small in-person transactions. They are an incredible innovation in Sound Money as they allow small units of physical gold to be traded in-person. They can also be vaulted for free through our service. There is a case that Goldbacks may be Utah State legal tender, however, they are certainly not federal legal tender.