Tamper-Proof Provenance Platform will Track Every De Beers Diamond
May 09, 22
(IDEX Online) - De Beers says its blockchain-backed Tracr platform is now able to track the journey of every diamond it sells, from Sight to retailer.
The UK-based miner says the tamper-proof technology has already been used for a quarter of its production by value during its first three Sights of 2021.
Tracr, which employs blockchain, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and advanced security and privacy technologies, is now ready to be rolled out to all its stones.
It can register a million diamonds per week onto the platform, De Beers said.
The move comes amid increasing consumer interest in diamond provenance, spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions on most of its rough production. De Beers has mines in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa.
Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said Tracr would "provide the industry with immutable diamond source assurance at scale".
It would, he said, "enable the provision of provenance information from source to Sightholder to store on a secure blockchain, (which) will underpin confidence in natural diamonds and represents the first step in a technological transformation that will enhance standards and raise expectations of what we are capable of providing to our end clients."
London-based Tracr says on its website that it is "the world's only distributed diamond blockchain that starts at the source and provides tamper-proof source assurance at scale".