Blockchains Are Diamonds’ Best Friend: The Case for Supply Chain Transparency
By Julia Walker, and Leanne Kemp · 2019
The blockchain is a data structure that can be used to create digital ledgers of transactions shared among a distributed network of participating organizations. Blockchain and regulatory technology have the ability to reconceptualize regulation and bake it into the fabric of the supply chain. In the fight against money laundering, traditional approaches have focused on clients and how well a bank knows them – i.e. knowing your customer. Provenance tracking creates the ability to know your object (KYO) – for example, what raw materials it is made of, where it came from, how it was manufactured or formed and by whom, and where it has it been. KYO leads to reshaping a new era of global trade based on the pillars of transparency, sustainability, and ethical sourcing. Increased visibility along the supply chain will help to reduce friction and inefficiencies for stakeholders taking on the highest risk when it comes to financing and insuring objects.