Ramat Gan: The Board of Directors of Carats.io has announced that it has appointed Eli Avidar as president of the company.

Mr. Avidar, who served until recently as managing director of the Israel Diamond Exchange and the Israel Diamond Institute, is currently vice president of CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation. In the past he held a number of top level positions with the Israel Foreign Ministry and served in several postings abroad. He was also president of the Israel-Africa Chamber of Commerce.

Carats.io is an Israeli startup issuing the first cryptocurrency backed by diamonds, thereby establishing the first-ever financial market for diamonds. The company uses state-of-the-art Big Data and block chain technologies to tokenize diamonds, and has created a sophisticated algorithm that compares individual diamond grades to daily market conditions. This algorithm has so far been deployed to price over $10 billion worth of diamonds. The company, which is audited by international accounting firm Ernst & Young, raised $1.6 million in its first financing round.

“The international financial community is divided into those who are wary of digital currencies and those who are seeking a way to invest in them,” said Mr. Avidar.  “Regulators in the major markets are working intensely to find ways to integrate digital currencies into their trading systems.”

“Carats.io is based on principles of transparency, stability and liquidity, which serves it well in complying with the demands of international regulations in areas of capital markets, anti-money laundering and Basel Committee standards. The company was established to be a bridgehead between the very traditional diamond market and the new financial world,” he stated.