De Beers To Provide Blochchain-powered Provenance For Diamonds

Diamond company De Beers is set to provide blochchain-powered provenance for its diamond production by deploying the Tracr blockchain platform across its value chain. The platform will provide tamper-proof and immutable record of diamonds from the source to the jewellery retailers to have confidence in the origin of the diamonds they purchase.

The introduction of Tracr at scale delivers immutable information on the source of De Beers’ diamonds across the value chain and makes source assurance for 100% of De Beers’ production possible. This comes at a time when more and more end clients want to know the source of the products they buy.

The Tracr platform combines distributed ledger technology with advanced data security and privacy, ensuring that participants control the use of and access to their own data. Each participant on Tracr has their own distributed version of the platform, meaning that their data can only be shared with their permission, and only they choose who can access their information.

The immutable nature of each transaction on the platform ensures that the data cannot be tampered with when the diamond progresses through the value chain. The decentralized nature of the platform ensures its speed and scalability, with the ability to register one million diamonds a week onto the platform.

De Beers has already registered one quarter of its production by value on Tracr in the first three Sights of the year in preparation for this first scale release. This was first launched in an R&D phase in 2018.

Tracr will enable the provision of provenance information from source to Sightholder to store on a secure blockchain to underpin confidence in natural diamonds. This represents the first step in a technological transformation that will enhance standards and raise expectations for De Beers’ end clients.

The Tracr platform brings together a range of leading technologies, including blockchain, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and advanced security and privacy technologies, to support the identification of a diamond’s journey through the value chain.

De Beers’ provenance claims have been certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council and trust in the De Beers source of diamonds is also assured by the business‘s Pipeline Integrity programme which involves annual third-party verification visits of participants by independent auditors.