A practical companion to the Kinesis series. Last updated: May 2026. This is a living document - new questions are added as the platform evolves and the audit page updates.
Quick Navigation Getting Started | How It Works | Tracking Your Yields | Safety and Risk | Platform Status | The Numbers
Getting Started
How do I sign up and fund my account?
Sign up at kinesis.money - or use this referral link. We both receive half an ounce of silver (KAG) when you create and fund an account, at no additional cost to you.
The process:
Registration takes a few minutes
Complete KYC (government ID, proof of address, selfie) - standard for any regulated financial platform
Approval is typically within 24–48 hours
Funding options:
Crypto deposit - fastest; BTC, ETH, USDT, and 40+ assets; arrives in minutes
Bank transfer - SEPA, ACH, or SWIFT depending on region; 1–3 business days
Debit/credit card - fastest for small amounts; card fees apply
Physical bullion (EPD) - deposit physical metal directly; see the EPD question below
Ready to start? Sign up here → referral link - we both get half an ounce of silver.
What are the KYC requirements?
Government-issued photo ID (passport, driver's licence, or national ID card)
Proof of residential address (utility bill or bank statement dated within 3 months)
Selfie for facial verification
Enhanced due diligence may apply for larger transactions or certain jurisdictions. The platform operates across both precious metals and digital asset regulatory frameworks, which can trigger additional checks.
Can I deposit physical gold or silver directly?
Yes - through the EPD (Exchanging Physical for Digital) programme. Your physical bullion is converted into KAU or KAG in your account.
Requirements:
Metal must meet ABX Quality Assurance Framework specifications (investment-grade bars from LBMA-approved refiners)
You arrange delivery to the nearest vault location (13 cities globally)
Minimums: 100g gold / 200 oz silver
Once received, verified, and accepted, KAU/KAG is credited to your account
This is also the mechanism through which the Minter's Yield is earned - a perpetual monthly income stream on your deposited metal.
Is there a mobile app?
Yes - iOS and Android. The app is most users' primary interface for managing holdings, tracking yields, accessing the exchange, monitoring the Virtual Card, and sending or receiving KAU/KAG.
The desktop exchange at kms.kinesis.money provides the full trading interface with advanced charting and order types.
Which countries are supported?
Kinesis operates across 151 countries. Key status notes:
Region | Status |
|---|---|
United States | Fully supported - banking, Virtual Card, IRA rollovers in development |
United Kingdom | New onboarding paused - FCA approval in process, nearing resolution |
Europe | Supported - some banking on-ramp friction in certain jurisdictions |
Australia | Limited banking on-ramp - crypto deposit recommended |
Latin America | Card rollout underway; expanding through 2026 |
Always verify your jurisdiction's current status at signup - regulatory requirements evolve.
How It Works
Where does the yield come from?
Every transaction on the platform generates a fee (0.22%–0.45%). All fees flow into the Master Fee Pool. Kinesis returns 57.5% of every fee to users across six yield categories:
Yield | Pool share | Who earns it |
|---|---|---|
KVT Yield | 20% | KVT token holders |
Holder's Yield | 15% | Anyone holding KAU or KAG |
Velocity Yield | 10% | Active spenders and traders |
Referrer's Yield | 7.5% | Users who refer others |
Minter's Yield | 5% | Users who mint new KAU/KAG |
Partner's Yield | variable | Businesses and affiliates |
The yield is not funded by lending your gold, not generated from debt, and not subsidised by venture capital. It is a direct share of real transaction revenue - closer to credit card cashback than a bank savings rate. Full design in the Kinesis Monetary System Whitepaper.
What's the difference between KAU and owning physical gold?
What you gain with KAU:
Zero storage cost (vs 0.12–0.50% annually for private vaults)
A yield paid in gold (vs nothing with physical)
Instant global transferability
Liquidity through the Kinesis Exchange and external exchanges
Ability to spend via the Virtual Card
What you give up:
Direct physical custody. Your gold is in professional vaults under a bailee structure - legally yours, independently audited - but you are trusting the platform, the vault operators, and the audit process.
When physical makes more sense: if your primary concern is a systemic crisis where you need metal directly in hand.
When KAU makes more sense: if you want allocated ownership that earns income, costs nothing to hold, and can be spent as currency.
They are not mutually exclusive. Holding both - physical for crisis resilience, KAU for yield and utility - is the approach I take. Most sound money investors I respect do the same.
How does the Virtual Card work?
The Kinesis Virtual Card is now live in the United States, with Latin America and Caribbean expansion planned through 2026.
How it works:
Select up to five assets to spend from (KAU, KAG, C1USD, or other supported assets)
At point of sale, your chosen asset converts to local fiat automatically
2% cashback in gold on all purchases (up to $2,000/month spending, $480/year max cashback)
Google Pay integrated; Apple Pay and physical cards on the roadmap
Beyond the card: the Metalback rewards programme offers up to 10% back in physical gold at 6,000+ participating retailers.
Why this matters for the yield system: every card transaction contributes a 0.22% fee plus a direct 1% from Kinesis into the Master Fee Pool - making card spending the most durable driver of platform yields.
What is Currency One and should I hold C1USD?
Currency One is Kinesis's stablecoin suite. Eight stablecoins are live (C1USD, C1GBP, C1EUR, C1AUD, C1CAD, C1CHF, C1AED, C1SGD), with C1BRL, C1JPY, and C1MXN in development. C1USD is the dominant stablecoin on the platform and the base trading pair for KAU, KAG, and KVT.
C1USD pays 7.5% APY (discretionary, variable) - funded by the issuer through TradFi/DeFi portfolio strategies, separate from the Master Fee Pool.
When to hold C1USD:
As a bridge while transitioning capital into KAU/KAG
As a parking spot between trades
For the 7.5% yield while maintaining fiat-equivalent liquidity
When not to hold it: as a long-term savings vehicle. If the Crack-Up Capital thesis resonates - that fiat currencies are being debased - long-term savings belong in KAU/KAG, not in a dollar-pegged stablecoin. C1USD is the on-ramp, not the destination.
One important note: January and February 2026 attestations were delayed due to a corporate restructuring (moving to a US-regulated structure for Genius Act compliance). Monitor current attestation status at currency.one/attestations.
How does minting work?
Minting creates new KAU or KAG by depositing fiat or physical bullion into the system.
Key details:
Minimums: 100 KAU (gold) or 200 KAG (silver)
Mint via the platform interface (fiat) or EPD (physical bullion)
Once you mint and activate (by spending or transferring), you earn the Minter's Yield - a perpetual, lifelong share of 5% of the Master Fee Pool, every month, indefinitely
Minting is not required to use the platform - you can buy KAU/KAG on the exchange. But for larger deposits or physical holders, minting unlocks a yield category that a standard exchange purchase does not. Full structure in the Minting Programme Whitepaper.
Tracking Your Yields
How do I track my yields day to day?
In the app or dashboard: navigate to the Holder's Yield page (kinesis.money/holders-yield). It updates every 15 minutes and shows:
Your exact monthly payout in gold and silver
The current annualised yield rate
Year-to-date total distributions
A live breakdown of the Master Fee Pool allocation
KVT holders see their separate 20% allocation on the same page.
As of May 2026, the April 2026 payout consisted of 69.65 grams of gold and 129.73 ounces of silver - real metal, paid to Holder's Yield recipients. The annualised yield rate varies with fee pool volume and has moved significantly across 2025–2026. Check the live rate directly at kinesis.money/holders-yield - it updates every 15 minutes and is the only reliable current figure.
What is the current fee pool and KVT implied yield?
These figures change monthly. Here's where to find them:
Master Fee Pool: published in Kinesis quarterly updates. The September 2025 figure was ~$2.57 million/month - a peak level driven by high trading activity at the time. Fee pool activity has moderated since. Check the latest quarterly update for current figures.
Holder's Yield live rate: kinesis.money/holders-yield (updates every 15 minutes) - this is the only reliable current figure
KVT implied yield: calculate as (monthly fee pool × 0.20 × 12) ÷ 300,000 ÷ current KVT price. At current fee pool levels the yield is a fraction of a percent - KVT is a bet on future fee pool growth, not present income. Full analysis in Part 4.
Crack-Up Capital publishes The Kinesis Monitor monthly - tracking the fee pool, yield rates, KVT price, and the $10K performance tracker. Available to subscribers.
What happens to my yields if I don't claim them?
You don't need to claim them. Yields are paid directly into your KAU and KAG wallet at the end of each monthly cycle - automatically. There is no action required, no expiry date, and no claim process.
Once paid, those additional grams of gold and ounces of silver sit in your account and begin earning Holder's Yield themselves in the following cycle - compounding passively in metal terms.
How liquid is KAU/KAG? Can I sell large amounts easily?
For most retail holders, liquidity is adequate - the Kinesis Exchange runs continuously, and KAU and KAG are now listed on external exchanges including MEXC and AscendEX.
The honest limits:
The Kinesis Exchange has lower depth than major crypto exchanges or ETF markets
Very large positions (six figures and above) may face meaningful price impact on a rapid exit
Exchange listings are improving liquidity but the market is still developing
KVT specifically is thin - daily volume often under $50,000; not a position to exit quickly at scale
For most users, this is not a practical concern. For large holders considering significant exits, factor in spread and depth before assuming ETF-like liquidity.
Safety and Risk
Is my gold actually there? How do I verify?
Kinesis uses Inspectorate International (a Bureau Veritas company) for independent physical audits - the same organisation that audits commodity inventories for major trading houses globally.
The process:
Officers physically count and verify every bar in the global vault network
Cross-reference against the Kinesis blockchain ledger of all KAU/KAG in circulation
Confirm 1:1 allocation
October 2025 audit results (published at kinesis.money/audits):
Gold: 2,393,328.835 grams ✅
Silver: 3,729,719.331 troy ounces ✅
Year-over-year: +71% increase in gold holdings (from 1,398,882g in October 2024)
Honest note on timeliness: as of late May 2026, the October 2025 audit remains the most recent - now seven months old for a platform advertising biannual audits. The next report is overdue. This doesn't imply a problem with the holdings, but transparency is only as credible as the timeliness of the reports. I check the audit page regularly and will update this FAQ the day a new one drops.
What happens if Kinesis goes bankrupt?
The bailee structure is designed specifically for this scenario. Under it:
KAU/KAG in your account are legally your property, not Kinesis's
In a liquidation, your metal should not form part of the corporate estate
You are the legal owner of specific allocated metal - not an unsecured creditor
This is structurally superior to GLD, where shareholders hold a beneficial interest but don't own specific bars. It is comparable to a private vault, where your metal is segregated from the vault operator's assets.
The practical caveat: you still rely on the vault operators (Brink's, Loomis Zurich) to maintain custody and on the audit process to confirm the metal exists. The legal structure protects you in theory; the audit confirms it in practice. Both need to hold.
KVT is different: KVT is a claim on the fee stream of the platform - not physical metal. If the platform ceases to operate, KVT has no recovery value regardless of the bailee structure.
What are the biggest risks?
In order of significance:
1. Platform risk - Kinesis is a single company. Failure through mismanagement, regulatory action, or loss of vault custody means KAU/KAG holders rely on the bailee structure, and KVT goes to zero.
2. Audit timeliness - biannual audits are the primary verification mechanism. The October 2025 audit is overdue for its successor. Delays erode the credibility of the transparency commitment.
3. Regulatory risk - 151 countries, each with evolving regulations. The UK FCA pause is a live example. A more severe action in a major jurisdiction could constrain growth or operations.
4. Liquidity - lower trading depth than major crypto exchanges or ETF markets, particularly for KVT. Large positions may face meaningful price impact.
5. Currency One attestation delays - the C1USD restructuring is aimed at stronger compliance, but delayed attestations create uncertainty. Monitor at currency.one/attestations.
6. Yield variability - the Holder's Yield is a share of real system revenue, not a guaranteed rate. If platform activity contracts, yields contract with it.
Despite these risks, I hold a meaningful allocation in KAU, KAG, and KVT as part of my broader sound money portfolio. The risks are real; the risk-sizing is the answer to them.
How do taxes work on KAU/KAG?
Not tax advice - consult a qualified professional for your jurisdiction.
Key considerations:
US: Whether KAU is taxed as a collectible (up to 28% for long-term gains, like GLD) or as property (standard capital gains rates) is not definitively settled for tokenised gold. The IRS has limited specific guidance.
UK: HMRC's crypto asset treatment applies - capital gains tax on disposal, with the annual exempt amount.
Yields received (Holder's Yield, Velocity Yield, etc.) are likely taxable income in most jurisdictions in the period received. The gold value at the time of payment is the relevant figure - not when you eventually sell.
Record-keeping: the platform provides transaction history exports. Use them. Work with an adviser who understands both digital assets and precious metals taxation.
Can I get my physical gold out?
Yes. Physical delivery is available from:
Gold: minimum 100 grams (~$10,000 at current prices)
Silver: minimum 200 troy ounces
Fee: 0.45% of metal value + $100 USD flat fee + shipping/delivery costs
For context: PAXG and XAUT require approximately 430 troy ounces (~$1.5 million) for physical delivery. Kinesis's 100g minimum is accessible for a serious retail holder.
Request delivery through the platform, confirm your address, pay the fees, and the metal ships from the nearest vault. Delivery timeframes vary by destination.
Platform Status
What's the current status of the Virtual Card, UK access, and IRA rollovers?
These three are the most frequently asked "when?" questions. Here's the honest state of play as of late May 2026:
Virtual Card:
Live in the United States ✅ (public launch March 2026)
Google Pay integrated ✅
Apple Pay: on the roadmap
Physical cards: on the roadmap
Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Mexico): expansion planned for 2026, not yet live
UK FCA approval:
New UK onboarding is paused pending FCA approval
The executive team described it as "nearing resolution" and "within a week or two" on a recent community call
When approved: unlocks UK banking, UK marketing, and UK card launch
Current UK users: existing accounts continue to function
US IRA rollovers:
Test transactions completed ✅
Compliant model built, partner in place ✅
Full rollout described as "very soon" - not yet live for general users
Will allow existing IRA rollovers into KAU with yield earning within the IRA structure
This section is updated when material changes occur.
The Numbers
What would $10,000 invested in January 2020 be worth today?
Gold opened 2020 at $1,517/oz. As of late May 2026, it trades at approximately $4,510/oz - a 197% appreciation.
Structure | Final value | Total return | Real return (after 27.6% inflation) |
|---|---|---|---|
KAU (Kinesis) | $31,236 | +212.4% | +144.8% |
Private vault (0.25% storage) | $29,255 | +192.5% | +129.3% |
GLD (0.40% fee drag) | $28,974 | +189.7% | +127.1% |
High-yield savings | $12,073 | +20.7% | -5.4% |
Average US savings account | $10,175 | +1.75% | -20.2% |
The KAU advantage over GLD - $2,262 - comes entirely from the yield and zero fee drag. Same gold. Same price. Different structure. Different outcome.
The average US savings account turned $10,000 into $10,175 while losing a fifth of its real purchasing power. The bank statement never showed a loss.
What does the compounding look like over 10 and 20 years?
Assumptions: gold at 8% annual appreciation, KAU yield at 3% annualised, GLD at 0.40% fee drag, savings at 2% nominal.
Year | KAU | GLD | Savings (2%) | KAU vs GLD gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | $17,034 | $14,402 | $11,041 | $2,632 |
10 | $29,014 | $20,741 | $12,190 | $8,273 |
20 | $84,182 | $43,019 | $14,859 | $41,163 |
At year 20, KAU is worth nearly double GLD - on the identical underlying gold price. The $41,163 gap is the cost of choosing the wrong structure over a lifetime.
Still have questions?
The full analytical series covers the deeper thesis:
Part 2: Kinesis Money: A Deep Dive
Part 3: What Kinesis Just Told Its Community → [coming soon]
Part 4 (Subscribers only): The Hidden Engine - KVT → [subscribe]
Ready to explore Kinesis? Sign up here → referral link - we both receive half an ounce of silver (KAG) when you create and fund an account, at no additional cost to you. This is a referral link: I earn a share of your transaction fees for the life of your account. It does not influence this analysis.
Full disclosure: I hold positions in KAU, KAG, and KVT, alongside physical gold and silver and precious metals equities, as part of my broader sound money allocation. Despite the risks outlined above, I continue to hold a meaningful allocation across all three Kinesis instruments. Nothing here is financial advice. Do your own research.