ISTANBUL

Turkey's Istanbul Clearing, Settlement and Custody Bank (Takasbank) on Friday announced a physically-backed, blockchain-based electronic gold transfer system, named BIGA.

The bank said the studies for the system have started in 2018 and tests completed jointly by member banks of Albaraka Turk, Garanti BBVA, Kuveyt Turk, Vakif and Ziraat.

BIGA enables people to transfer digital gold, of which their physical equivalents are securely stored in Borsa Istanbul safe deposit vaults.

The system ensures privacy for transactions, which can be monitored only by the parties and an official authority, the bank said in a written statement.

BIGA, which means one gram gold in Turkish, offers 7/24 gold transactions.

Last year, the bank developed another blockchain-based system for smooth information flow among financial institutions.

Takasbank is a subsidiary of Borsa Istanbul, of which over 80% shares are held by Turkey's Wealth Fund.