Malcolm Duncan finally sells Mandela’s golden hands — for $10m in bitcoin
An earlier sale was scuppered by questions about its provenance, and about money intended for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund
Toronto — It’s one of the more unusual deals in the art world. After more than a decade, an Alberta businessman has finally found a buyer for his prized collection of gold castings of Nelson Mandela’s hand. The final price? Ten million dollars — in bitcoin. Attempts by Malcolm Duncan, formerly of South Africa, to sell the hands back in 2007 were scuppered by controversy over provenance and a possible missing charitable donation. This time he’s had better luck, albeit with an unusual buyer. Little information is available about Arbitrade, an Ontario-based cryptocurrency company, something chairman Len Schutzman says is about to change. The company is "weeks away" from doing an initial coin offering and is building a facility in Waterloo, Ontario, to mine its own cryptocurrencies. It also plans to trade others. Its key selling point, he says, is that it will back all its virtual coins with some percentage of physical metal — including gold. Nelson Mandela’s solid gold hand would seem ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.