The global investment firm – SkyBridge Capital – partnered with the climate tech company – MOSS Earth – to purchase and respectively retire tokens representing nearly 40,000 tons of CO2. The move would aim to offset the carbon footprint of the Bitcoin network.
SkyBridge Ambitions Towards Green Bitcoin
According to a press release dated August 2nd, SkyBridge Capital teamed with the environmental platform MOSS Earth to buy and immediately retire 38,436 tons of carbon. The transaction would neutralize the estimated CO2 footprint of BTC generated from SkyBridge’s multi-strategy funds as well as the First Trust SkyBridge Bitcoin Fund.
The founder and CEO of SkyBridge – Anthony Scaramucci – raised hopes that in less than 10 years, BTC mining can become fully renewable:
“We project that bitcoin mining will be fully renewable by the end of the decade. In the interim, carbon offsets represent an effective way to green the bitcoin network and facilitate adoption by ESG-minded investors.”
Anthony Scaramucci. Source: Yahoo
In his turn, the CEO and Founder of MOSS Earth – Luis Adaime, praised SkyBridge’s initiative:
“SkyBridge’s initiative to offset the greenhouse gas emissions caused by the bitcoin held by its funds is most probably the largest ever done by an institutional investor, and an example to be followed by the investment community.”
He added that neutralizing BTC’s CO2 emissions is an important step towards stimulating the migration of the mining industry into renewable energy sources. Moreover, the move would have a positive impact on the planet.
Gemini Intends to Offset Its Own CO2 Emissions
As CryptoPotato reported at the end of June, the cryptocurrency trading venue run by the Winklevoss twins – Gemini – announced a long-term initiative called Gemini Green. Its mission would be to add environmentally conscious practices into its business.
The exchange partnered up with Climate Vault and vowed to purchase 350,000 metric tons of carbon striving to decarbonize Bitcoin. One of the founders of Gemini – Tyler Winklevoss – commented:
“As Bitcoin emerges as a dominant store of value, it’s imperative that we incorporate sustainability for future generations. We are proud to team up with Climate Vault to offset our exposure to non-renewable mining and contribute to the decarbonizing of bitcoin.”
Interestingly, the amount of carbon that Gemini plans to buy equals roughly a billion miles driven by an ordinary passenger automobile.
Earlier in the year, two other leading cryptocurrency exchanges announced they would become carbon neutral. First, the San Francisco-based FTX declared such intentions:
“BTC isn’t the biggest use of energy, but we take our impact on the world seriously. To that end: FTX is committed to being carbon neutral.”
Shortly after, the Seychelles-based derivatives exchange BitMEX followed. The platform confirmed it would begin a carbon offsetting regime, and it would donate $0.0026 for every $1 of blockchain fees their clients pay.