What is BiGA Project?

The BiGA Project is the Blockchain Working Group which was created in the first quarter of 2016 under Takasbank. Within the scope of blockchain studies, sector-based developments were carefully followed and evaluations were made regarding the projects to be carried out within Takasbank. Takasbank has contributed greatly to the organizations related to the blockchain by actively participating.

Digital Gold Transfer Project, developed by blending its technical infrastructure with traditional forms, is thought to be developed using blockchain technology before it is launched. With these developments, the work of the BiGA Project, considered as the blockchain model of the Gold Transfer System, has started. The main objective of the BiGA Project is to prepare an infrastructure that can be stored on Takasbank, the physical equivalent of which is located at the Istanbul Stock Exchange cash registers, and whose transfer standards can be carried out with the use of blockchain technology of certain registered gold.

Looking at the currently applied solutions, it is seen that there is no physical basis behind the digital values produced with blockchain technology. Due to the fact that these digital assets are not based on real value, a high volatility in their values is encountered in the unregulated markets.

Blockchain infrastructure solutions are capable of transferring assets that do not belong to them and that do not have a value, by having a physical basis for each digital value. After this development, the digital asset will be more reliable and the speculations will be averted. The name of the first asset to be produced on the platform, which will be the first in the world and integrated with the Gold Transfer System, is BiGA.

Within the project, integration with the Gold Transfer System, which manages the physical gold storage and registration processes, has been done. Thanks to this integration, after the dematerialized golds are digitized, they will be converted to BiGa and it can be converted from BiGA as well.

In this way, a complex structure is established end to end (P2P) between the physical asset and the digital asset. Blockchain infrastructure provides transfer, reporting and reconciliation of the developed digital assets. Along with the blockchain, other valuable assets are digitized and designed as a modular structure that makes the transfer flawless.

General Operation of BiGA

Three main features are determined for digital assets in the BiGA system. These are transfer, export and amortization. In addition to these, there are additional features such as reconciliation, monitoring, reporting and integration between the blockchain system and the Gold Transfer System.

Transfer

With the Transfer feature of BiGA, the user can perform transactions at any time of the day with BiGA assets. The institutions included in the system are defined as a node in the blockchain network. These nodes contain copies of the data in the blockchain network. The amount of BiGA sent in the transfer operations performed is sent in encrypted form. Sent quantities are stored encrypted in

blockchain network. With this feature, nobody knows the amount of the transfer except for the users and institutions that are the parties to the transfer. However, they have the authority to confirm the accuracy of the transaction. As a result of the approval of the transfer transactions, the crypto balances in the blockchain network are updated.

Reconciliation regularly checks to ensure the consistency and smoothness of the working mechanism in the system. At any given time period, certain checks are made so that the sum of the assets on the transfer and the assets in the blockchain network are directly parallel to the amount of gold stored in physical cashes. If it is determined to be deviated from this parallelism due to extreme situations, export, amortization and transfer operations are automatically stopped. When the problem is detected and resolved, the system continues to function again.

Export

With the export feature of the Gold Transfer System, the user can dematerialize the gold that meets the LBMA requirements of 995/1000 purity, which is physically stored in BIST safes. In exchange for a Gram of dematerialized gold, it transfers a BiGA to accounts within the Gold-Based Digital Asset Platform. The exportation process is carried out in certain time periods in accordance with the working principles of the Gold Transfer System.

Amortization

The user converts the existing BiGAs in his account to dematerialized gold and logs them out of the system. On the Gold-Based Digital Asset Platform, by converting a BiGA to a gram of dematerialized gold, they transfer it to the Gold Transfer System accounts. The amortization process is carried out in certain time periods determined according to Gold Transfer System principles, just like in the export process.

Gold Transfer System Project:

The Gold Transfer System, launched by Takasbank on July 16, 2018, provides the opportunity to transfer between banks’ gold balances. In this way, gold transactions are secured in the financial system and it brings a new dimension to the competitive environment of the market. For this reason, it has paved its way to be used as a financial instrument.

The Gold Transfer System involves the dematerialization of physical gold in BIST cash registers, keeping it in the accounts of domestic banks of Takasbank, and activating digital transfer between accounts. Thanks to the Gold Transfer System, corporate and individual users can transfer gold in their gold accounts in banks, as they do with other transfers.

Gold Transfer System and BiGA Integration

With the Gold Transfer System Project, physical gold stored in BIST cash registers is converted to BiGA. With this integration process, every digital asset is produced according to its physical basis. Reconciliation and transformation are made between the physical asset and the digital asset. Users can also make their transfer transactions through a bank. However, users can change their BiGA assets over the bank (node) whenever they want.