Earlier in the year, Sotheby had made the revelation that it was going to start accepting crypto payments. On July 9, Sotheby’s put a 101.38-carat diamond up for auction, and it sold for about $13 million in cryptocurrency.
According to MarketWatch, the diamond “sold for $12.3 million to an unknown buyer last Friday at Sotheby’s Hong Kong.” MarketWatch noted, “According to Sotheby’s, it’s the most costly stone ever purchased with cryptocurrency.”
The auction for the crypto-friendly diamond was announced in the second half of June, with estimations predicting that the diamond would sell for around $15 million.
The diamond’s moniker, “The Key 10138,” is said to be a reference to crypto jargon. (Private keys give each crypto owner access to their assets.)
According to Sotheby’s release, the diamond was revealed to be a Variety IIa diamond after chemical examination, a rare sort that is frequently considered as the most chemically pure type of diamond. It came with a “certificate of authenticity” as well as a monograph.
The diamond’s catalogue states,
“Accompanied by a GIA report no. 6193169635, stating that the diamond is D color, Flawless; furthermore accompanied by a diamond type classification letter stating that the diamond is determined to be a Type IIa diamond.”
Type IIa diamonds are the most chemically pure type of diamond and often have exceptional optical transparency. The GIA report is further accompanied by a monograph.”
In the crypto sector, anonymity and pseudonymity are ubiquitous. Crypto traders and social media influencers frequently use pseudonymous Twitter accounts to make comments.
Even Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator (or creators) of Bitcoin (BTC), the commodity that launched the entire crypto-economy, remained anonymous.
The diamond auction produced an anonymous buyer who paid in crypto, which is perfect for the crypto sector. According to MarketWatch, the auction results did not reveal which digital asset the buyer used as payment.
Buyers have the option of betting their diamond offers in Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), or regional currencies (fiat).
According to Cointelegraph’s Bitcoin price index, Bitcoin’s price ranged between $32,670 and $34,170 on July 9. On that day, the price of Ethereum fluctuated between $2,070 and $2,180.
The buyer would have paid around 372 BTC for the diamond at a price of $33,000 per Bitcoin. The rock would have cost roughly 5,857 ETH if paid in ETH, assuming a $2,100 pricing per ETH coin.
However, because the exact totals were not disclosed, the above serves only as a logical baseline of possibilities based on price action on July 9.
