Today, blockchain provenance company Everledger announced it has upgraded its diamond supply chain platform. The Everledger platform logs information about assets throughout their lifetime. That includes its origin, distinguishing features, and ownership changes which are securely stored on a blockchain.
Many of these blockchain benefits are also valuable to the new supply chain sectors that the firm is targeting including gemstones, fine wine, luxury goods and e-waste management.
Founded in 2015, Everledger’s blockchain platform integrates and enhances data from miners, manufacturers, certification houses and retailers. It also has a facility for consumers to view information like diamond characteristics and ownership.
“We help stakeholders along the value chain to make better decisions, which enable ever more knowledge, insight and sustainable business practices,” said Leanne Kemp, founder and CEO of Everledger.
Everledger recently launched a partnership with Spanish jewelry designer and manufacturer Facet for its blockchain-enabled diamonds, DiamondByway. It claims to be the first collection of traceable jewelry in Europe. Additionally, Everledger’s platform is being used by Fred Meyer Jewelers in the U.S. and Indian diamond manufacturer Sheetal Group.
Meanwhile, Everledger has also launched a community program in Tanzania to support female mine workers. It is working with Pact, a non-profit, and the Tanzanian Women Miners Association as well as ANZA Gems and Nineteen48 on an ethical gemstones project — Moyo Gemstones. The program aims to empower women miners to work safely, mine better and improve financial security.
The company uses the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain protocol. An Everledger spokesperson elaborated on the upgrade: “The new Everledger blockchain platform builds upon the previous iteration by introducing enhanced security, scalability and functionality. The backend has been totally optimized, seeking higher interoperability between different use cases and industries, while keeping information secure and private.”
Beyond blockchain, Everledger is employing artificial intelligence and intelligent labelling. Last year, the firm announced a co-marketing deal for Applied DNA’s CertainT platform. The CertainT platform involves tagging a product with unique molecular DNA to guard against counterfeiting.
Blockchain has been adopted by several companies in the diamond industry to help to weed out ‘blood diamonds’ and fakes. The highest profile is the initiative from De Beers. In Hong Kong, Chow Tai Fook is running a similar blockchain project for its customers. They can see their diamonds’ origins and quality using a blockchain-powered app. And in mainland China, online diamond portal DiamsLedger is also using a diamond provenance solution.
