Trading officially began at the Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange (SDiX), the world’s first and only commodity exchange for physically settled diamonds, last week. At the launch, SDiX had broker members across Singapore, Hong Kong, London and Dubai, the exchange said in a statement.

The platform aims to bring standardisation to the global trading in diamonds as an asset class and to unlock new investment opportunities for global investors. Official trading hours are between 14:30PM SGT/ HKT and 18:30PM SGT/ HKT to facilitate the participation of global traders, the statement added.

SDiX is built on a fully integrated, regulation-ready ecosystem, including an industry-leading electronic trading platform, a depository that enables the physical settlement of diamonds, and a global network of service providers that support the Exchange and its members with grading, vaulting and settlement. Its partners include GIA, Malca-Amit and Standard Chartered Bank, among others.

Initially, SdiX will support a vibrant spot trading market, and as this matures the Exchange will offer more sophisticated products such as ETFs and derivatives that will further enhance the attractiveness of the platform for global investors, the Company said.

Alain Vandenborre, Executive Chairman and Founder of the Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange, commented: “The SDiX represents a tectonic shift in how diamonds are traded. By providing the first ever transparent and open price discovery mechanism for diamonds, the exchange unlocks a major opportunity for investors to trade diamonds as an asset class.

StatIng  that the SDiX is entirely independent of the diamond industry, Vandenbborre said, “We are fully regulation-ready, so that investors, suppliers and other industry players can benefit from a transparent and unbiased marketplace,”

SDiX is backed by leading global investors including Vertex Venture Holdings, one of the longest operating venture capital firms in Asia and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.  Early investors include Jim Rogers, Hsieh Fu Hua, Sun Tongyu, and Cai Wensheng.