Gulf News, the most visited news website in the UAE, has published coverage of IGI’s certification of the world’s only market traded diamond commodity – the Diamond Standard Coin (DSC).
In the article, titled Investors and global markets are ready for world’s first ‘diamond coin’ at $5,000 each, readers are informed of the $25 million initial offering, enabling institutional and individual investors to trade and hold a fungible diamond commodity for the first time.
Bitcoin meets Gold
The author compares the Diamond Standard Coin to cryptoassets which can be bought and sold online, without the need for physical handovers, with the exception that the DSC actually has a physical asset behind it.
“The set value and the limited number of coin issues could push traded prices higher, much in the same way in the gold and digital currency markets.”
Dual Benefits
In a Gulf News interview, GI General Manager Shaunak Shastree commented on the dual benefits of diamonds as a historic store of value as well as an emotional gift. According to Shastree:
For these diamond coins, investors have a physical asset backing it. That’s definitely not the case with Bitcoin or any of these fancy assets… Diamond purchases have always been associated with an emotional decision, or high-value one-off stones. The new coins make it more of a steady investor-focused asset class.
Broader Buyer Base
According to Gulf News, the broader international buyer base for diamonds could boost backing for the new commodity.
It will also help Diamond Standard that a broader base of buyers are showing up for diamonds. Just over three decades ago, US buying of these precious stones accounted for 70-80 per cent of the overall; it’s now dropped to 40 per cent as the likes of China and India weigh in.
Earlier this year, Diamond Standard founder and CEO Cormac Kinney expressed excitement about the relationship with IGI:
IGI’s expertise, global footprint, flexibility, and long-standing reputation of excellence made them a key partner in our pursuit to develop a regulator-approved diamond commodity. We are excited to begin a long relationship, together delivering a revolutionary new asset to the market.

Diamond Standard selected IGI to receive, inspect and sort all diamonds used in the commodities in eight global IGI locations, and to assemble the high-tech coins in IGI’s labs.
The World’s First Fungible Diamond Commodity
To learn more about IGI and its services, please visit IGI. For additional information on Diamond Standard and the initial offering, readers can explore www.diamondstandard.co/offering.