In this week’s newsletter, read about how nonfungible tokens (NFTs) hosted on the FTX exchange are now showing blank images. Check out how NFTs can solve diamond certification fraud and how the NFT space is held back by oversupply. In other news, find out how celebrities are facing a class-action lawsuit. And don’t forget this week’s Nifty News featuring classic media player Winamp adding support for NFTs. NFTs minted on FTX break, highlighting Web2 hosting flaws NFTs hosted on the embattled FTX exchange have been affected by the collapse of the organization. After FTX filed for bankruptcy, its FTX.US domain …

Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but unfortunately, the billion-dollar diamond industry is rife with scandal and fraud. There have been a number of cases where lab-grown diamonds have been graded as natural diamonds. An example of this was seen last year when the International Gemological Institute analyzed and graded a 6.18ct lab-grown diamond, which was previously claimed to be a natural diamond on its Gemological Institute of America (GIA) report. It was also reported in 2005 that the Gemological Institute of America — which is one of the most trusted sources for evaluating gemstone quality — was accepting …

Diamonds are some of the world’s most valued gemstones, and the global diamond industry has managed to remain afloat despite being partially eclipsed by the emergence of modern stocks and novel virtual assets. The diamond industry, however, appears to be undergoing a paradigm shift in recent times — incorporating modern technology such as blockchain to improve diamond production, tracking and ultimate sales. Leanne Kemp, CEO of independent technology company EverLedger, stressed the need for blockchain integration in the industry to improve the tracking of a stone’s provenance. Speaking on the issue of data manipulation concerning a diamond’s provenance four years …

Global diamond mining firm De Beers has launched a proprietary blockchain-powered platform to manage its diamond production and distribution. The firm has long been at work on a blockchain system to trace, record and manage its diamond mining, production and distribution across the globe. The Tracr platform was first piloted and tested back in 2018, and the company has finally released the platform at scale to serve the wider diamond mining industry. De Beers has already incorporated the system into its global operations and estimates that 25% of its diamond production by value is registered on Tracr for 2022’s first …

A 555-carat diamond with mysterious origins estimated to be billion years old has been sold for $4.5 million in cryptocurrency at a Sotheby's auction. The diamond has baffled geologists over its origin, where it’s still not clear whether it came from outer space or was crystallized in the earth’s mantle. The diamond is characterized by its opaque black appearance with full of visible holes. The carbonade diamond is available in only two regions on the planet, namely Brazil and the Central African Republic. However, what makes this carbonade diamond even more mysterious is the fact that it contains an array …

Art and jewelry brokerage Sotheby’s put a 101 carat diamond up for auction, fetching over $10 million in crypto for the rock on Friday. The diamond “sold for $12.3 million to an anonymous buyer last Friday at Sotheby’s Hong Kong,” MarketWatch reported on Monday. “It’s the most expensive gem ever purchased with cryptocurrency, according to Sotheby’s,” MarketWatch added. News of the crypto-friendly diamond auction surfaced in the second half of June, with estimates forecasting the diamond to hit prices somewhere in the ballpark of $15 million. Called The Key 10138, the diamond’s name reportedly pays homage to the crypto industry …

Luxury auction house Sotheby’s will accept bids in crypto for a massive diamond scheduled to be auctioned in Hong Kong next month. According to a Monday Reuters report, Sotheby’s will offer a 101.38-carat pear-shaped diamond for bids in crypto and fiat starting on July 9. Buyers are expected to bid up $118 million HKD — roughly $15 million — for the stone. This amounts to more than 454 Bitcoin (BTC) at the time of publication at a price of $32,974. Sotheby’s has also accepted Ether (ETH) in previous auctions. The auction house seems to be marketing to crypto users in …

DLT supply chain firm Everledger is partnering with local Chinese diamond sellers to ensure customers only receive genuine gemstones. In an Aug. 25 announcement, Everledger, a global digital registry for diamonds, said it would be working with Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com as well as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) to implement a distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based supply chain capable of verifying the authenticity of individual stones. Due to the restrictions imposed on businesses during the pandemic, many buyers have turned to purchasing diamonds online, where it’s difficult to assess the quality and authenticity. In China, “digitally competent millennials” reportedly …

Non fungible tokens (NFT) representing diamonds have made their way to the OpenSea marketplace. In the past, there have been quite a few attempts to tokenize diamonds and other precious stones and metals. But Icecap founder and CEO Jacques Voorhees says the problem with previous attempts was they treated diamonds as fungible commodities, which they are not. He told Cointelegraph that when he first heard about NFTs from his son Erik Voorhees (CEO of ShapeShift), it all came together. “They're as different as a snowflake,” he said. “All the efforts to try to create fungibility with a non fungible item, …

British blockchain-enabled supply chain firm Everledger has raised $20 million in a new funding round participated by Chinese Internet giant Tencent. “Everledger and Tencent are a natural fit” Following the investment, Tencent will now be represented in the Everledger board, the company said in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Sept. 24. The new funding will help Everledger to continue improving transparency, sustainability and traceability across global supply chains. Leanne Kemp, founder and CEO of Everledger, also pointed out the importance of Tencent’s participation, outlining the potential synergies of the partnership with the company. “Everledger and Tencent are a …

Blockchain-enabled diamond exchange Cedex has secured more than 6,000 diamonds worth over $50 million that will be traded on its platform, Finance Magnates reported on March 27. Per the report, citing a press release from the firm, the supply is meant to ensure that traders have a sufficient variety of options from the launch of its diamond-backed Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), which the company is reportedly developing. The report claims that Cedex’s ETF would be the first of its kind and that it will be ‘generic’ in nature. The report also notes that the company is currently liaising with exchanges, …

Last week, Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science introduced a blockchain-enabled platform for tracking diamonds. Indeed, blockchain has been bringing transparency into the diamond industry — a complex ecosystem where corruption and irresponsible mining appear to be largely present. Self-regulation in the diamond industry — and how Everledger’s arrival pivoted it from a dead end The history of blockchain in the diamond industry can be traced back to May 2015, when Australian entrepreneur Leanne Kemp founded Everledger — a global digital registry for diamonds powered by the IBM Blockchain Platform. One of its main goals was to solve the “blood …