A digital gold rush is unfolding in Turkey, and it's rewriting the rulebook. State-backed gold certificates traded on Borsa Istanbul — each representing just 0.01 grams of bullion — are now trading at a record 21% premium over physical gold. That gap should theoretically not exist. But ever since early March, as geopolitical tensions flared and global gold prices climbed, Turkish investors have piled into these digital instruments at full throttle. The draw? Tax perks, instant liquidity via mobile apps, and narrow spreads that make them far more attractive than buying the real thing.
Turkey is no stranger to gold mania — it's one of the largest gold-consuming countries in the world. But unlike traditional buyers hoarding physical bars under the mattress or in the Grand Bazaar, this new wave of investors is digitally native, financially literate, and speculative by nature. Analysts note that this crowd isn't buying gold for safety. They're chasing momentum, treating these certificates more like hot tech stocks than safe-haven hedges. And with imports still dwarfing local production — over which the central bank has first dibs — the structural imbalance only adds fuel to the fire.
But here's the catch: this premium isn't built to last. Experts warn the certificate surge is more sentiment-driven than substance-backed. “This is not about real demand for physical metal,” one analyst put it bluntly, and It could be a market froth. In other words, while the Turkish gold certificate craze has become a standout trade, it could unwind just as fast. For now, though, investors are betting the glitter doesn't fade — at least not yet.
