Mysterious Black Diamond With Unknown Origin Sells For $4.3 Million in Cryptocurrency

The world's largest known cut diamond, "The Enigma," which is 555.55 carats, was sold in an auction in London on Wednesday for a staggering $4.3 million in cryptocurrency.

The mysterious black diamond was put on display for the first time since it was discovered while it continues to baffle the world with its unknown origins. Some believe that the rare black, or carbonado, diamond, was created when a meteorite or an asteroid struck Earth more than 2.6 billion years ago.

Mysterious Black Diamond

The 555.55-carat and 55-faced black diamond was sold at an online sale held by London's renowned Sotheby's auction house. Carbonado diamonds are commonly found close to the Earth's surface and suggest an extraterrestrial origin.

The auction house said that the specific type of rare diamond was created by either meteoric impacts that produced natural chemical vapor deposition or from outer space. The list of events that could have triggered the event includes supernova explosions. These would have formed diamond-bearing asteroids that may have collided with our planet, Raw Story reported.

The black diamond is known to be the largest fancy black natural color diamond and the largest cut diamond in the world. In modern times, the majority of diamonds are found in a volcanic rock called kimberlite. However, carbonados defy Earth-origin theories, leading geologists into a state of confusion.

While the Sotheby's auction house has not yet publicly revealed the identity of the buyer of the mysterious black diamond, Richard Heart, a crypto entrepreneur, revealed that he was the auction winner. He did not disclose the specific type of digital asset that he used to purchase the $4.3 million black diamond.

As per Mashable, in a Twitter post, Heart said that he bought the world's largest cut diamond for his #HEXican cultural heritage. He also said that the mysterious diamond will be called the HEX.com diamond.

Unknown Origin

Carbonados have a unique combination of physical and chemical features unlike any other diamonds and are jet black, opaque, and full of visible holes. The diamonds are found in only two regions in the world, Brazil and the Central African Republic. They are also known to grow to massive sizes.

The group of diamonds includes a gigantic 3,167-carat Brazilian carbonado called "Sergio," which is the largest diamond ever found. A mineralogist specializing in diamonds at the University of Alberta, Thomas Stachel, said that The Enigma is a pretty sizable diamond of its kind.

Before they were in demand for their beauty, carbonados were known for their durability and toughness. In contrast to single crystals found in traditional gem diamonds, carbonados are made up of an interlocking network of crystals. These provide the diamonds with additional resistance to fracturing under pressure. It also makes them valuable as industrial abrasives.

Humans have long been using carbonados as drill bits to puncture tough rock and for grinding wheels that sharpen a variety of tools. The vice president of research and development at the Gemological Institute of America, Wuyi Wang, said there was no single model to explain everything about carbonados. He is known to be the one who certified The Enigma to be a natural carbonado, according to National Geographic.

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Mysterious, Outer space