According to the auction house Sotheby’s, the 101-carat diamond has become the most expensive gem ever bought with cryptocurrency.
The gem was sold on Friday for $ 12.3 million after Sotheby’s announced that it accepts payments at Bitcoin and Etherium in addition to traditional forms of payment. Sotheby’s did not disclose which of the two cryptocurrencies was used to complete the purchase. The diamond, dubbed The Key 10138, was handed over to an “anonymous private collector.”
In a press statement, Wenhao Yu, Sotheby’s vice chairman for jewelry in Asia, said the sale attracted “new customers far beyond the traditional collector” – “a digital generation.”
The surprisingly rare stone itself is the second largest pear-cut diamond ever to hit the market, according to Sotheby’s. It is classified as a ‘D’ color diamond. This is the highest grade awarded to white diamonds, which means it appears colorless to the naked eye. This is one of 10 diamonds of this quality, weighing over 100 carats, that have ever been put up for auction.
Earlier this year, Sotheby’s put up for sale a painting by Banksy, Love is in the Air, with payment at Bitcoin and Etherium. The painting was ultimately sold for $ 12.9 million, although the auction house did not say if the buyer ended up using the cryptocurrency.
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