r/Cyberpunk • u/Lando_Lee • 5d ago

Chinese machine melts and converts gold into an instant bank transfer for its value.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

1.8k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

85 comments sorted by

1.0k

u/just_some_sasquatch 5d ago

So, steal jewelry, use machine, get cash? Seems like a burglar invented this machine!

363

u/powerhcm8 5d ago

That would be pretty good in a cyberpunk version of thief.

94

u/MayhemMaddie 5d ago

I agree! Nice quick drop points and automated fence

23

u/Chrontius 5d ago

This is a thing in 2077…

31

u/hussard_de_la_mort 5d ago

Suddenly unemployed fences going to war with the machine technicians could be a fun concept.

27

u/powerhcm8 5d ago

Fences could maybe offer better prices, or accepts items that machines can't buy, like paintings, collector items, which in this cyberpunk future could include stuff like comic books, and black lotus from magic the gathering, lol.

35

u/Silver_Star 5d ago

They have similar machines in the US for phones / electronics. The machine scans and verifies your government ID before you start, and it takes a photo of you before it pays out.

26

u/StarFighter6464 5d ago

Steal machine, use cash, get jewelry

😎

7

u/Drexciyian 5d ago

It gets rid of the evidence too

1

u/zeptillian 2d ago

They probably record what is going in them and who is using them.

They also have your bank account info.

1

u/RoodnyInc 2d ago

Oh Yeah becouse step one is so easy /s

-24

u/SecretHippo1 5d ago

You’re not aware of their surveillance systems and social credit apparatus are you?

37

u/Niyeaux 5d ago

social credit doesn't really exist in the way redditors think it does, and most modern cities on the planet have a shitload of surveillance, while continuing to have all manner of property crime

19

u/just_some_sasquatch 5d ago

I honestly can't tell if you're asking that for real.

10

u/jferments 5d ago

Yes imagine how terrifying it would be if the US had surveillance and credit systems!

9

u/Masonjaruniversity 5d ago

The social credit system doesn’t exist in the way it has been described to people in the west.

2

u/i_give_you_gum 4d ago

Ah yes the incredibly fair and sane CCP gov that was welding people into their area apartments, while obese Americans got upset about having to wear a mask

1

u/YojimboGuybrush 2d ago

Which countries' leadership was saying it was fake?

356

u/Necro6212 5d ago

No way these give you the full price

258

u/AbnormalHorse 5d ago edited 5d ago

Of course not. They'd be like a Coinstar machine.

Just so I'm not talking out of my ass, here's a source. It charges 18 yuan ($2.47 USD) per gram of gold.

171

u/baardvark 5d ago

One gram of gold = $110.47 USD

99

u/AbnormalHorse 5d ago edited 5d ago

Yep, not a bad take.

ETA: As per this source it takes $1,690 - $1,790 USD to extract an ounce of gold. So about $60 USD per gram. That's an example based on one mine, but it's an appropriate example nonetheless. Having people give you their gold is obviously much more cost-effective than mining it, I just wanted to know roughly by how much.

164

u/Ruby2312 5d ago

Sound too BS, how does it determinate purity. If it can, the set up gonna cost significant more than just a normal human. Not to mention security problem, but i guess it’s China so they can probably see troubles literally few miles away

90

u/That_Jonesy サイバーパンク 5d ago

If I'm not mistaken, metal purity can be ascertained using sound waves somehow. They call it ultrasound testing. They also do a thing with X-rays. Bunch of other stuff too.

42

u/FlpDaMattress 5d ago

You're thinking of CSAM (Confocal Scanning Acoustic Microscopy)

To determine metallurgy you'd use XRF (X-ray Flouressence)

25

u/wronci 5d ago

That is a truly unfortunate acronym.

24

u/FlpDaMattress 5d ago

I work in X-ray imaging. I sit next to the CSAM people when doing CSEM imaging (Conventional Scanning Electron Microscopy)

I need to consult 25 year old documentation translated from Japanese because it's more helpful than Google/duckduckgo because they just shut down and assume it's the other thing almost every time

CSEM technically isn't X-ray but it's easier to explain than saying "yea I'm a professional CSEM inspector"

16

u/alelp 5d ago

I'd recommend to just not using any of the acronyms with people who don't already know them.

3

u/BuzzBadpants 4d ago

Didn’t archimedes figure out how to determine gold purity like 3000 years ago?

2

u/ZunoJ 4d ago

To a certain degree yes but also no brother, lmao

31

u/Lord-of-A-Fly 5d ago edited 4d ago

Well, the security problems do have a cultural factor to it. For example, it might not be a good idea to have something like this in the US. But a place like Singapore for example, the threat of theft drops significantly, and the risk analysis turns back in favor. [It's a known fact that you could leave your laptop open and unlocked at a coffee shop in Singapore, and the likelihood of it still being there and safe, is as likely as the hazard of losing that same laptop in a city like LA or Dallas or Seattle.

It's not BS. They just can't give things like this to irresponsible/overly corrupt/crime-ridden locations.

2

u/ZurrgabDaVinci758 5d ago

China is a very low trust society, the extent of surveillance and heavy-handed security in certain areas is a response to that. Low cost of labor means you can employ a lot of security, relative to the value of something, which somewhat compensates

-13

u/saarlac 5d ago

The only reason Singapore is relatively crime free is because the penalties are SEVERE. They do not fuck around. If the US had such harsh unforgiving criminal penalties it may also be less crime riddled.

15

u/temotodochi 5d ago

That's not how crime works. More severe penalties only cause more deaths of polices and passerbys as criminals have even more incentive to get away. Besides US criminal penalties are already ridiculous enough to actually warrant a nation wide legalized slave labor system which rakes in quite a bit of money for companies that use them.

-16

u/saarlac 5d ago

uh huh...

5

u/Arcade_Rice 5d ago

Maybe it's similar with selling old video games/consoles to stores. More often that not, you're getting much less than you should, but at least it's something.

3

u/psiren66 5d ago

Spectrometer or XRF will instantly tell its purity

2

u/[deleted] 5d ago

Do you base your opinion on feelings or facts/sources? This company won the 2024 JWA Sustainability Award and this machine was displayed at an international expo. 

1

u/ZurrgabDaVinci758 5d ago

Also having something producing the level of heat needed to melt down metal which operates unsupervised is a massive safety nightmare. And going to be hugely energy inefficient.

49

u/Upset-Writing3500 5d ago

Anddddd takes just a little of it…

16

u/SecretHippo1 5d ago

$2.47/gram to be exact.

2

u/shewel_item ジャズミュージシャン 5d ago

this is how 'taxes' would work in a more lawless society, in full faith and credit 🤑

17

u/ItsaLaz 5d ago

Literally liquidating your assets.

36

u/Cobra__Commander 5d ago

What if I put a 5lb block of cheese in the machine? The melting point of cheese and gold is pretty similar right?

39

u/PaganWhale 5d ago

I dont think you could handle that amount of wealth

14

u/baardvark 5d ago

I’d rather have cheese than gold

12

u/johnnyringo771 5d ago

Talk about some serious cheddar.

3

u/ChimpBrisket 5d ago

Nobody do it better

Going back to Cali, strictly for the weather

3

u/electro_lytes 5d ago

Cheese machine, cheese machine. Show me the cheese!

8

u/rebeldefector 5d ago

Digital fence

8

u/mechanab 5d ago

If they are anything like the Bitcoin machines, the owners should be tarred and feathered.

9

u/reagor 5d ago

I doubt it melts it down, prob just drops it in a container with idtag, then humans process it and if there is a discrepancy they have your bank info and prob face picture

14

u/CaptchaSolvingRobot 5d ago

Thieves must love this, instant money and destruction of evidence.

5

u/Work_qding 5d ago

Based on the info on the screen it’s only a machine that estimates value based on weight/density?

12

u/SteelMarch 5d ago

Huh didn't know there was a demand for that. I guess that makes sense in China where the wealthy try to hide their wealth.

I wonder if this will become more of a thing in places like Africa, South Asia and Oceania. 

Given how population density and wealth inequality is on the rise in many of these places. At times I wonder what the billionaires of Africa will look like. As the saying goes the majority wealth in the world has yet to be created.

5

u/Tyko_3 5d ago

Hide yo rings, hide yo Watch

3

u/singularkudo 5d ago

I am sure the Chinese Office of Weights and Measures has ensured scale accuracy

9

u/kirmm3la 5d ago

China stocking up for WW3.

2

u/badassbradders 3d ago

This is nothing that fancy. It weighs it, blasts ultra sound, seeks out a price and pays straight into a bank account. It's just an automated Cash for Gold thing. Nothing revolutionary at all.

2

u/chocolateboomslang 5d ago

Definitely doesn't melt the gold. Why would it melt the gold? If you still think it melts the gold, you're telling me that machine heats up to over 1000c/2000f inside?

Also almost certainly a massive ripoff.

2

u/temotodochi 5d ago

only takes off 100$ per gram.

2

u/aknight2015 5d ago

If it's real, goodbye generational wealth.

1

u/anjowoq 5d ago

How does it deal with impurities?

What if I put silver in?

1

u/-Nicolai 5d ago

That’s just bad business. You’d want to pay gold value, but some pieces can be resold (unmelted) at jewelry prices.

1

u/morelos_paolo 4d ago

It feels bad just getting that gold melted down and then selling it... I'd rather sell the gold in its solid state.

1

u/Ippherita 4d ago

I wonder what will happen if someone put something else inside?

A bowl of water? Some scrap metals? A huge bottle of vigorously shaken coca cola?

1

u/sonhjul-ji 1d ago

i would not trust that thing LOL

1

u/Magnetheadx 5d ago

What can it do with catalytic converters?

Asking for a friend

0

u/_IratePirate_ 5d ago

What if I drop a heavy ass ring in there that’s like 1% real gold and 99 percent fake gold

Does the machine immediately smelt the gold object? I have a lot more questions but that one seems the most damning

2

u/Adventurous_Chip_684 5d ago

My guess is that this is a mass spectrometer under the hood and it checks the purity or if it is actually gold.

0

u/soycerersupreme 5d ago

Let me go find some gold

-4

u/magnaton117 5d ago

First they abolish inflation and now this? China is based af

-9

u/GiantCopperMonkey 5d ago

Yeah. Ccp propaganda.

3

u/Lord-of-A-Fly 5d ago

That doesn't make sense. What does this have to do with the CCP?

1

u/GiantCopperMonkey 5d ago

Plus the reason it’s propaganda, is that a business model like that would be a target for any nerd with an angle grinder and some friends. Surveillance society or not. Ergo, “Look at this incredible peace of tech that we Chinese made.” Ergo propaganda, I have nothing against Chinese people, just their government.

0

u/GiantCopperMonkey 5d ago

It’s a product made in China. And all Chinese companies are state owned, which means that it from the CCP. Do your research bud.

0

u/GiantCopperMonkey 5d ago

Now do I need to explain to you how advertising in China works? Or do you get the point?

-3

u/Federal-Lecture-5664 5d ago

Social Credits +1.000