# Provenance Tokens

### Tracing Diamond Origins with Blockchain

In the rough diamond sector, trust stands as a major challenge. Buyers often struggle to confirm a stone's origin or verify its legitimacy. 

Traditional export and import documents, along with the Kimberley Process Certificate Scheme (KPCS)—which certifies that a diamond is conflict-free—rely on paper records. These can be easily lost or forged, complicating the tracking of a stone's origins. Moreover, they only cover limited steps, leaving gaps in the full path from mine to retail store.

At the core of KimberLite is the **Provenance Token**: a digital certificate on the blockchain, linked to a specific diamond or group of stones. Unlike paper KPCS certificates, these tokens live on the blockchain, where anyone can access them through simple wallet apps or explorers. This allows investors, jewelers, or buyers to check every detail directly, without needing middlemen.

Each Provenance Token records the complete journey of the stone from mine to store. It captures details like mining location coordinates, ethical certifications (such as fair labor audits), KPCS compliance, and chain-of-custody records. As the diamond moves forward—through export approvals or cutting reports—new updates are added as blocks, each secured by cryptography.

This approach builds a single, reliable source of truth available around the clock, helping to cut down on disputes and the risks of smuggling.

Even large parcels of rough diamonds, which might hold thousands of carats, can benefit from Provenance Tokens through fractionalization. Smart contracts on Ethereum let one token for a 1,000-carat lot be divided into 1,000 separate sub-tokens, each tied to an individual stone using RFID tags or laser etching.

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**Provenance Tokens** transform fragile paper certificates into unbreakable blockchain records, empowering buyers to verify a diamond's ethical journey with effortless transparency
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