Top Diamond Producer De Beers Deploys Blockchain-Based Platform at Scale – Blockchain Bitcoin News

De Beers, one the most prominent diamond-producing firms in the world, announced recently that it has deployed its blockchain-based source platform for diamonds at large scale. The platform will “enable the provision of provenance information from source to Sightholder to store on a secure blockchain.”

Immutable Record of a Diamond’s Provenance

One of the world’s top diamond miners, De Beers, recently said it had deployed a blockchain-based diamond source platform at scale. The platform, which is known as Tracr, gives the so-called sightholders the ability “to provide an immutable record of a diamond’s provenance, and [empowers] jewellery retailers to have confidence in the origin of the diamonds they purchase.”

The launch of the platform at scale comes nearly four years after De Beers launched the R&D phase, a statement released by the company said. The launch also comes in a year when the company has already “registered one-quarter of its production by value on TracrTM in the first three sights of the year in preparation for this first scale release.”

Bruce Cleaver (CEO of De Beers Group) spoke out about how blockchain has increased confidence in an industry that is accused of failing to do enough to stop the illegal diamonds flow.

“TracrTM, which will enable the provision of provenance information from source to Sightholder to store on a secure blockchain, 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,” Cleaver said.

Building trust among stakeholders

For his part, Botswana’s minister of minerals and energy, Lefoko Moagi, said the introduction of the blockchain-based system is something that is pleasing to both his country, a holder of 15% of the diamond-producing company’s shareholding, and De Beers’ other shareholders. Moagi also reiterated the importance of building stakeholders’ confidence in the way De Beers sources its diamonds.

Diamond-producing companies such as De Beers face increasing pressure to stop illicitly obtained diamonds from reaching formal markets. In addition, as more end clients insist on knowing the source of the jewelery they buy, De Beers said this meant it had to make “a technological step-change to meet their expectations.”

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Terence Zimwara

Terence Zimwara was a Zimbabwe award-winning journalist and author. His writings have covered the economic problems of several African countries and how digital currency can offer an escape route.