Goldcorp joined a growing list of companies adopting blockchain technology by making the first deposit onto Tradewind Markets’ VaultChain blockchain.

The 3,000-ounce gold deposit, announced Thursday, is valued at US$4 million and is VaultChain’s “genesis block,” the first block on the chain and a milestone for Tradewind. It represents the first time blockchain technology has been used to record and manage physical precious metals in an institutional setting.

Tradewind, incorporated in 2016, was a finalist in Goldcorp’s #DisruptMining competition last year. Goldcorp later became a shareholder in the company.

Blockchain technology makes use of a distributed ledger, which is at its most basic a decentralized system of record. Transactions and data on the network are not verified or stored by a central authority, but spread across a network of users with a unique hashmark such that no transaction or information can be repeated, changed, or modified. Tradewind has said that the current gold market is too slow and has more potential for errors.

Related: Goldcorp invests $1-million in Newfoundland-based Acoustic Zoom at Disrupt Mining

“We believe physical gold stored on a blockchain will increase the utility of the commodity and, ultimately, drive the value in the price of gold,” said David Garofalo, president and CEO at Goldcorp, in a news release, adding that the company is “thrilled” to be the first to deposit a bar of gold on the platform. Garofalo went on to compare the potential of Tradewind’s platform to revolutionize the gold investment industry to the introduction of exchange-traded funds more than a decade ago.

Tradewind will store the gold being traded on its platform at the Royal Canadian Mint.

President and co-founder Matt Trudeau added in the release that Tradewind is pleased to partner with Goldcorp in launching its platform, and added that he believes the technology “will enable gold producers like Goldcorp to overcome existing limitations and move into the electronic age.”

VaultChain joins other blockchain gold-trading platforms, including the partnership between Yamana Gold and Emergent Technology Holdings, and another between CME Group Inc and the United Kingdom’s Royal Mint.