Carats.io, the Israeli blockchain startup behind a diamond-backed cryptocurrency, has got its token listed on a cryptocurrency exchange for the first time.

The token is called CARAT, and the exchange is a cryptocurrency-only venue called Hotbit.

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Gabriel Diamant, Chief Product Officer of Carats.io, told Finance Magnates that Hotbit was chosen because of its location; the Israeli startup has received a lot of interest from people in Southeast Asia.

Eli Avidar, President of Carats.io, said: “Our company and our diamond-backed currency are currently attracting significant attention in Southeast Asia because diamonds are seen as an effective bulwark in the escalating trade war between the United States and China. Asians are looking for stable currency alternatives that are not dependent upon the U.S. dollar.”

Launched in January 2018 in Taiwan, Hotbit has handled $24.5 million worth of trading volumes in the last 24 hours, according to coinmarketcap.com. It lists more than 170 different altcoins, tradeable with Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Tether.

Money Backed by Diamonds

Carats.io’s proposition is a stable cryptocurrency based on the value of physical diamonds. Much like the value of the US dollar was once supported by physical gold stored in Fort Knox, the startup actually purchases and keeps diamonds, which are exchangeable for CARAT tokens. The company says that the average volatility of the CARAT token is five percent per annum, a quarter of that of gold.

The company was originally operating in partnership with the Israel Diamond Exchange but switched to IDEX in August. IDEX is the world’s second-largest diamond trading platform with 7,000 traders regularly using the service and has 750,000 stones in its online pool. According to the terms of the partnership, Carats.io purchases $120 million worth of diamonds from IDEX to make up its physical stock.

In addition to the stable currency, the startup wants to bring liquidity to the traditionally physical diamond market. Listing on the digital asset exchange is part of this plan.

Carats.io raised $1.6 million in funding in May 2018.

We are excited to announce https://t.co/5UqdWEYluZ has raised $1.6 Million in a funding round led by Net Capital Ventures. This brings us even closer to creating a transparent & valuable diamond monetary system.
Read more: https://t.co/IVWPKRww7W #BTC #ETH #Blockchain

— Carats.io (@Caratsio) May 8, 2018