New York: The companies behind the world’s first diamond-backed cryptocurrency will start selling the digital coinage this month. The asset class used is colored diamonds, which the founders of the PinkCoin claim have not lost value since tracking began in 1959, reports Rapaport.

Precious Investments and its subsidiary BitGem Asset Management (BAM) will launch the PinkCoin crowdsale – a crowdfunding process in which investors acquire PinkCoin tokens – on January 18, according to a statement.

PinkCoin is based on the Ethereum cryptocurrency platform and backed by a pool of fixed colored-diamond assets kept in trust by BAM. All escrowed diamonds have been independently appraised and certified and are insured by Lloyds of London, the statement said.

The initial crowdsale will comprise 5 million PinkCoin tokens and the initial diamond asset pool has been valued at $5 million, meaning each token will be worth $1 to begin with. The diamond pool will be valued on a regular basis.

PinkCoins are redeemable for Bitcoins, a digital currency introduced in 2009, or individual gems, based on the diamond pool’s most current valuation. Holders of the currency will be able to trade it for other assets and for asset pool-backed tokens on the BitGem Decentralized Marketplace, anticipated to be available in the second quarter of 2016.