New York: De Beers Group and GIA (Gemological Institute of America) yesterday announced the signing of a definitive agreement for GIA to acquire a 30 per cent shareholding in Tracr, the De Beers Group-backed company behind the development of the pioneering diamond provenance blockchain-driven platform.
The agreement marks a significant milestone in Tracr’s evolution towards independence and reflects GIA’s confidence in the platform’s role as an industry‑wideinfrastructure to advance natural diamond provenance and traceability at scale.
GIA’s investment – which builds on a 2023 initiative to include diamond provenance information registered on Tracr’s platform on eligible GIA diamond grading reports– represents a significant step in this transition, reinforcing Tracr’s long‑term credibility across the diamond value chain.
Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group, said, “Consumers deserve to know where their diamonds come from and they should feel more confident in their understanding of each diamond’s source. At De Beers we have been providing provenance data on diamonds through Tracr for several years and we believe that delivering provenance should become an industry standard. Following our promise to open Tracr up to broad ownership, we areproud to be partnering with GIA as Tracr evolves into an independent, industry-wide platform. We will work alongside GIA to advance provenance transparency for the entire diamond sector.”
Pritesh Patel, President and CEO of GIA, said, “At GIA, our mission has always been rooted in trust, integrity, and consumer confidence. Our collaboration with Tracr over the past several years reinforced our belief that combining source-based blockchain provenance with GIA’s independent grading and identification expertise can help unlock a new level of transparency for the diamond industry. As Tracr continues to scale globally, we see a tremendous opportunity to deliver meaningful, verifiable provenance information from the source to the consumer. We are proud to deepen our commitment through this investment and help shape the next evolution of transparency, traceability, and trust across our industry.”
Jillian Wolk, CEO of Tracr, said, “The start of Tracr’s evolution into an independent platform, as a result of GIA’s investment, creates a strong foundation forthe future. I am excited to continue scaling the platform and bringing more producers on board, which will support Tracr in enabling the individual journey of every registered diamond to come to life. Each stone carries its own narrative, defined by its sourceand the craftsmanship that has shaped it, and as Tracr continues to grow we have a fantastic opportunity to help reveal those unique stories.”
De Beers has been developing Tracr since 2018 and it is now a leading distributed diamond blockchain platform that starts at the source, registering diamonds atthe point of recovery. In 2023, De Beers opened the platform to the wider diamond industry, positioning Tracr as an industry‑wide, scalable solution for rough‑to‑polish verification of natural diamond provenance, which starts at a stone’s source.
Today, more than five million rough diamonds have been registered on Tracr at source, representing around two‑thirds of De Beers’ rough diamond production by value. Since January 2025, single country of origin for De Beers diamonds has been available on Tracr, with all newly sourced De Beers rough diamonds of one carat and above being registered on the platform.
