Blockchain used to track gold and diamonds from mine to finger
IBM, gold and diamond companies (including De Beers), and an independent laboratory are using TrustChain to track the provenance of finished pieces of jewellery
Portland — IBM, a group of four gold and diamond industry companies, and an independent laboratory are developing a blockchain network for tracing the provenance of finished pieces of jewellery from mine to store. The TrustChain Initiative, which will run on IBM’s technology, includes precious-metals refiner Asahi Refining, US jewellery retailer Helzberg Diamonds, precious-metals supplier LeachGarner, jewellery-maker the Richline Group and a global safety consulting and verification company UL. Other industry players may join the effort as well, said Jason Kelley, GM for blockchain services at IBM. Products being tracked through the program should be available to consumers shopping for jewellery by year-end, according to a joint statement on Thursday. TrustChain is the latest effort by the jewellery industry to use blockchain — a real-time digital ledger that is immutable — to prove to consumers that their purchases don’t include blood diamonds or conflict metals and are ethically s...
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