this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2025
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Futurology

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Diamond prices are down 60% since a 2011 high, and they are still falling. It's not all down to lab-grown diamonds, demand is down too, especially in China.

No one can lab-grow gold yet, so its rarity and scarcity protect its value, but that will end too. It's just a question of when. China launched an asteroid touch-down mission this week, which will make it the 4th country/region to do so, after Europe, the US & Japan.

How soon will it be feasible to mine asteroids? Who knows, but a breakthrough in space propulsion might mean the prospect happens quickly when it does. It's possible gold has twenty years or less of being high value left.

The $80 Billion Diamond Market Crash Leaves De Beers Reeling

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[–] JustTesting@lemmy.hogru.ch 10 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

While I agree it is overvalued, what really put it into perspective for me is that all of the known gold in the world would fit into a cube with a side length of 20-25m.

So a fair price would be lower than what it is now, but it is scarce and its uses (corrosion resistance, conductivity, malleability, reflectivity, etc.) probably would still warrant a relatively high price.

[–] KingPorkChop@lemmy.ca -2 points 4 days ago (2 children)

all of the known gold in the world would fit into a cube with a side length of 20-25m.

Same could probably be said about my lifetime toenail clippings, but Beyonce won't be dropping high stacks for those earrings.

[–] shoo@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

That's just a marketing issue. If people can sell nft jpegs you can sell those nails. Stay on that grind 💪😤🦶

[–] turtlesareneat@discuss.online 2 points 4 days ago

CLIP don't grind, you don't want all them profits going up in dust!