On January 27th an online electronic diamond exchange was launched in Antwerp by the dealers Organization for Diamond Automated Quotes. Polished diamonds will be traded globally through this exchange like other goods in accordance to its founders.

DODAQ told in a statement that www.exchange.dodaq.com is a trading platform which offers two-way auctions for solitary categories of polished diamonds and therefore real time spot rate. The initial cash market for diamonds. Price transparency, allowing the market to decide fair value, just as markets for stocks, currencies, and other commodities are determined and these are the services offered by two-way auction mechanism.
This is open to all with or within or outside the industry, and this was the statement read out "enabling diamonds to be realized for the first time as an asset class, and an alternative investment opportunity to gold." This gives both a liquid entry and resale point for the investors representing a revolutionary step in the evolution of the universal diamond industry.

All client funds are held by ABN AMRO Bank and DODAQ provides on the spot settlement, steering the industry away from the present reliance on credit. Simon Okuniew who is chief executive officer of the exchange told that DODAQ is a cash market. And they also told that for a guaranteed settlement they got be satisfied that the diamond is real which is accomplished by certification. This system calls for original certificate which will be later checked to confirm that certificate and diamond match. They cannot be handled at any cost as they get sealed immediately after checking out the certificate and the diamond. Finally the diamond is then sent to their specialist vault in the Freeport of Geneva which is run by their professional custodian Malca-Amit.