‘The Enigma’ – a billion-year-old black diamond believed to be the largest cut in the world – has been sold for a whopping $4.3 million in digital assets. The jewelry’s owner is now American entrepreneur Richard Heart who renamed it the “HEX.com diamond” after his blockchain organization.
Sotheby’s Diamond Bought for Millions in Crypto
Earlier this year, the leading marketplace for art and luxury – Sotheby’s – announced it will host an auction for a rare 555.55-carat diamond that can be sold for cryptocurrencies. The jewelry was displayed in London between February 2 and February 9, where Richard Heart – a social entrepreneur, author, and philanthropist – purchased it for $4.3 million worth of digital assets.
The American is a cryptocurrency veteran as he is the creator of the blockchain company HEX. In a recent tweet, the 42-year-old informed that the jewelry will bear the name of his entity – “HEX.com Diamond”. However, he did not disclose what type of cryptocurrencies he uses.
Unlike most diamonds located deep in the planet, the aforementioned one was found on the surface, indicating that it could have come from space.
“This specific type of black diamond is thought to have been created either from meteorite impacts producing natural chemical vapor deposition, or of extraterrestrial origin – from supernova explosions that formed diamond-bearing asteroids. which eventually collided with Earth,” Sotheby’s explained.
With that said, experts estimated that the diamond could be from 2.6 to 3.8 billion years old. In its rough form, the jewelry weighed over 800 carats.
The previous diamond-crypto deal
Although it is the largest and one of the rarest diamonds, the “HEX.com diamond” is not the most expensive, which Sotheby’s has sold at auction in exchange for cryptocurrencies.
Last summer, the company sold the “Key 101.38” for around $12 million worth of digital assets, making it the most expensive physical object ever auctioned this way.
The company did not reveal the name of the mystery bidder. However, they purchased the jewelry in Bitcoin (BTC) or Ether (ETH) as these are the only two assets accepted by Sotheby’s.
