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I'm wondering: 1) Do diamonds have unique digital fingerprints? How do I know if the diamond I see in front of me corresponds to the record the dealer shows me

by Joeboy 9y ago

I'm wondering: 1) Do diamonds have unique digital fingerprints? How do I know if the diamond I see in front of me corresponds to the record the dealer shows me on the blockchain? 2) What happens when people (inevitably) put bad information in the permanent digital record? Does anybody have the authority to correct it?

routerman 9y ago
With regard to your first question, I was wondering the same too. Found this Coindesk article which might be helpful (https://www.coindesk.com/everledger-blockchain-tech-fight-diamond-theft/ https://www.coindesk.com/everledger-blockchain-tech-fight-di...). "Before a stone like this can be digitised, pricey or not, it needs a unique identifier – a fingerprint – that allows it to be tracked on Everledger’s platform as it changes hands. This is calculated from 40 data points related to each stone – alongside the Four C's. Any diamond over 0.16 carats will also have a serial number inscribed on its girdle during the grading process. While a criminal could reshape a stone to distort its 'digital fingerprint', Kemp explained that diamonds are not, in fact, the sum of their parts. The cutting process results in a lot of wastage, so any attempt to alter a diamond, or split it into two, will drastically reduce its value."
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- unboxed_type 9y ago
  Thanks for that quote!
routerman 9y ago
As for your second question, it depends on what kind of platform the diamond industry builds on. If the diamonds are tracked using a smart contract on the public Ethereum chain, there may be special functions in the contract that allow certain entities to edit data in the contract. The problem with this is that consumers have to trust that the companies use this write access honestly. A partial solution might be to only allow certain data in the smart contract to be edited IF at least X number of companies in the consortium agrees to it. Still requires trust, but less of it. If they're building their own blockchain to track the diamonds, and consensus is simply maintained by a small group of entities in the industry, then it's trivial to edit the data. But of course, if this is the case, then it begs the question of why a blockchain is even needed. Just use a shared database.
- unboxed_type 9y ago
  >But of course, if this is the case, then it begs the >question of why a blockchain is even needed. Just use a >shared database. Two issues regarding your second observation. 1) A change that requires a consensus among some non-tiny group of participants is not trivial thing to accomplish in practice. You will have to wait before every one from a group of N (say, 20) representatives will agree with your change. 2) Why a blockchain is needed? Because no other "shared database" provides the same trust model which is "everyone trusts no one". Every other database "security model" in existence assumes that every admin trusts every other admin. If it is not so, then things quickly become complicated and impractical.
  - routerman 9y ago
    Good points. From a consumer's perspective, I do hope that they would eventually choose to build on a public blockchain. The fact that consensus is provided by miners worldwide (or stakers in PoS chains) instead of a couple of diamond-related companies means that there is one less thing for me trust.

by Joeboy 9y ago

routerman 9y ago

With regard to your first question, I was wondering the same too. Found this Coindesk article which might be helpful (https://www.coindesk.com/everledger-blockchain-tech-fight-diamond-theft/ https://www.coindesk.com/everledger-blockchain-tech-fight-di...). "Before a stone like this can be digitised, pricey or not, it needs a unique identifier – a fingerprint – that allows it to be tracked on Everledger’s platform as it changes hands. This is calculated from 40 data points related to each stone – alongside the Four C's. Any diamond over 0.16 carats will also have a serial number inscribed on its girdle during the grading process. While a criminal could reshape a stone to distort its 'digital fingerprint', Kemp explained that diamonds are not, in fact, the sum of their parts. The cutting process results in a lot of wastage, so any attempt to alter a diamond, or split it into two, will drastically reduce its value."

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
unboxed_type 9y ago
Thanks for that quote!

routerman 9y ago

As for your second question, it depends on what kind of platform the diamond industry builds on. If the diamonds are tracked using a smart contract on the public Ethereum chain, there may be special functions in the contract that allow certain entities to edit data in the contract. The problem with this is that consumers have to trust that the companies use this write access honestly. A partial solution might be to only allow certain data in the smart contract to be edited IF at least X number of companies in the consortium agrees to it. Still requires trust, but less of it. If they're building their own blockchain to track the diamonds, and consensus is simply maintained by a small group of entities in the industry, then it's trivial to edit the data. But of course, if this is the case, then it begs the question of why a blockchain is even needed. Just use a shared database.

unboxed_type 9y ago
>But of course, if this is the case, then it begs the >question of why a blockchain is even needed. Just use a >shared database. Two issues regarding your second observation. 1) A change that requires a consensus among some non-tiny group of participants is not trivial thing to accomplish in practice. You will have to wait before every one from a group of N (say, 20) representatives will agree with your change. 2) Why a blockchain is needed? Because no other "shared database" provides the same trust model which is "everyone trusts no one". Every other database "security model" in existence assumes that every admin trusts every other admin. If it is not so, then things quickly become complicated and impractical.
- routerman 9y ago
  Good points. From a consumer's perspective, I do hope that they would eventually choose to build on a public blockchain. The fact that consensus is provided by miners worldwide (or stakers in PoS chains) instead of a couple of diamond-related companies means that there is one less thing for me trust.