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Bitcoin’s blockchain has already provided the model for a cryptographic digital artwork registry, and now Everledger is using the system to certify and track luxury items — starting with diamonds — and protect owners against fraud.

Everledger is a London-based startup that will create immutable, digital records for individual diamonds, as well as their unique attributes and related transaction history. The diamond certification will then be stored in a permanent public ledger, which takes the form of a blockchain, and will be significantly more reliable and secure than the paper certificates and receipts currently used for identification.

Everledger will digitize each diamond by recording 40 metadata points about the stone, including the serial number, its 4Cs (color, clarity, cut and carat), the angles, and pavilions — essentially its entire physical makeup. The startup is currently in Beta, but is already working with London’s major insurance companies and certificate houses, and has digitized over 280,000 diamonds. It expects to expand into other luxury goods such as watches, fine art and designer handbags in the future.

What other information could be protected by blockchain?

Image source: Pixabay