“Diamonds are forever.” Or at least they are now that non-fungible token (NFT) technology is being used to verify GIA diamond certificates and proof-of-ownership.
Unsurprisingly, the diamond industry has always been ripe with scandals and fraud. But some innovative diamond companies are attempting to change that by introducing NFT and blockchain technology to the diamond certificate process.
Mike Moldawsky, creator and founder of Diamond Dawn, said that diamond certification reports benefit immensely from being put on public blockchains. Doing so ensures that the documents aren’t manipulated — a major problem in the industry. It also provides immutability, transparency, and proof-of-ownership.
To back up his conviction, Diamond Dawn is launching an NFT art project that will mint 333 GIA-certified diamonds as ERC-721 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. Users can buy a max of one diamond NFT for the price of 4.44 Ether. When the NFTs are minted, a smart contract will send the diamond’s GIA certificate to the Ethereum blockchain.
Like other NFT project that link physical and digital products, NFTs holders will have the option to burn their digital NFT to receive an actual diamond. As people burn their NFTs, the digital assets will become scarce, potentially making them more valuable.
The digital artwork for the NFT collection was created by David Ariew — a digital artist who recently sold a piece at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening for $224,000.
The main goal of the project is to demonstrate the usefulness of NFT technology for the diamond community. And Diamond Dawn isn’t the only diamond company experimenting with NFTs. The Clear Cut, a digitally native diamond engagement ring company, is also using NFTs as diamond certifications.
Linking Physical & Digital Products Through NFTs Is on the Rise
When NFT technology is used to link physical and digital products, it is called “phygital.” And Diamond Dawn isn’t the only company that’s investing in phygital NFT drops. At Rarity Sniper, we’ve covered several brands and companies launching projects that use digital NFTs to verify and sell physical products. Here are some of our top stories.
First, at the beginning of 2022, CarForCoin, a marketplace that sells exotic cars, auctioned actual cars as NFTs. A series of cars the company had for sale were transformed into animated NFTs and auctioned on the company’s website in dollars and Bitcoin. Winners of the auction received the digital asset, the real-life car, and a QR code that can be scanned to display the NFT.
Next, a house in South Carolina sold as an NFT for $175,000. The deal was conducted through the NFT marketplace Roofstock, a leading digital real estate platform. The platform believes that tokenizing real estate can help buyers and sellers save on fees. The property was purchased with USDC — a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.
Lastly, ASICS sportswear company partnered with move-to-earn app STEP to drop a Solana-inspired sneaker. Buyers of the GT-2000 11 physical shoe will be airdropped a special ASICS x STEPN NFT sneaker and receive token-gated experiences and other perks and rewards.
Given the number of brands and companies we’ve seen launch projects that link NFTs to physical products, it’s no surprise that Diamond Dawn and other diamond and precious gem companies are starting to get on board the Web3 bandwagon. We’ll have to wait and see how the Diamond Dawn NFT collection sells. But using NFT technology to combat fraud seems like it could be a win for everyone.