Diamond giant De Beers has announced that it has successfully tracked diamonds using blockchain technology.
In late 2017, the company had announced a blockchain-based diamond traceability platform. In an official announcement dated May 10, De Beers said that it has successfully conducted a pilot of its blockchain platform – Tracr, and tracked 100 high-value diamonds along the value chain.
The pilot was announced in January and marked the first time a diamond’s journey has been digitally tracked from mine to retail, De Beers said. During the pilot, an immutable and secure digital trail was created for a selection of rough diamonds mined by De Beers as they moved from the mine to cutter and polisher, then through to a jeweler.
De Beers has been closely working with five leading diamond manufacturers – Diacore, Diarough, KGK Group, Rosy Blue NV and Venus Jewel – during the development of Tracr. It said that it is working with BCG Digital Ventures to build the platform and the underlying technology.
De Beers expects to launch Tracr later this year and said that it will be open to the industry. The platform will provide consumers with confidence that registered diamonds are natural and conflict-free, improve visibility and trust within the industry, and enhance efficiencies across the diamond value chain.
“The Tracr project team has demonstrated that it can successfully track a diamond through the value chain, providing asset-traceability assurance in a way that was not possible before,” Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said. “We look forward to sharing the platform with more partners in the coming months and capturing their insights before ultimately making this technology available to the broader industry.”
