Diamond Standard, a startup that aims to tokenize diamonds, has raised a $30 million round led by venture capital firm Left Lane Capital and investment firm Horizon Kinetics.
Venture investment syndicate Gaingels and startup investing platform Republic.co also participated in the round, the company said in a release Wednesday.
Diamond Standard says that tokenizing diamonds opens up the rare mineral as an asset class, providing a new store of wealth to both retail and institutional investors.
It is licensed to operate in Bermuda as an issuer and seller of tokens and digital assets and makes Ethereum-based tokens are backed by physical diamonds. This can be sold on cryptocurrency exchanges.
It aims to position diamonds as an investable asset alongside investor exposure to shares, index funds, and cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.
“Following 20% returns last year, the Diamond Standard Coin has continued to generate a positive return this year, while the S&P 500 is down 14% and bitcoin is down 50%, said founder and CEO Cormac Kinney. “Investors need a new uncorrelated asset class, and this capital will enable us to increase capacity and expand our offerings.”
Diamond Standard is “aggressively hiring.” It plans to use the money to expand production capacity and accelerate distribution.
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About Author
Tom is fintech reporter at The Block. Before joining the team, he was an editorial intern at the FT-backed platform Sifted where he reported on neobanks, payment firms and blockchain startups. Tom has a bachelors degree in International Relations and Japanese from SOAS, University of London.
Source: https://www.theblock.co/post/169946/diamond-tokenization-startup-diamond-standard-raises-30-million?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss