Reports said that Accelerate Financial Technologies, the Calgary-based investment services company, has planned to match each investment in its pending Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the planting of thousands of trees.
It has been reported that Accelerate Financial Technologies has pledged to plant 3,450 trees for every $1 million CAD, around $792,000, as of August 27 invested in its Bitcoin ETF.
However, the move is part of Accelerate’s aim to have it's Bitcoin ETF be carbon negative, that is, removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than the energy required for Bitcoin mining and transactions would create. The company claims each major investment would result in the offset of 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
Julian Klymochko, the Chief Investment Officer of Accelerate Financial Technologies, pushed back against the idea the company’s initiative was analogous to greenwashing or falsely marketing oneself as environmentally friendly. He said that the firm preferred planting trees instead of purchasing carbon credits to label the product carbon negative.
The report said that Ninepoint Partners LP is planning to offer a green Bitcoin ETF seemingly similar to that proposed by Accelerate. In May, the company said it would purchase carbon credits to offset the environmental impact of the crypto in its fund. Many companies in the crypto and blockchain space, including mining firms, have announced solutions using green or renewable energy sources given the concerns over the technology's potential environmental impact.
In May, Bank of America analysts said that Bitcoin's energy usage has increased 200% since 2019 and is now comparable to that of a small developed nation. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also expressed concern about the network’s “increasingly rapid use of fossil fuels.”
Likewise, the investment firm filed the application for its Bitcoin ETF with Canadian securities regulators in February. Accelerate plans to list the product on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker ABTC, offering units in both US and Canadian dollars.
Thus, Canadian regulators have given the green light to many firms applying for Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in 2021, including offerings from investment fund manager 3iQ, Purpose Investments, Evolve Funds Group, and CI Global Asset Management while the Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to approve any crypto ETF in the United States.
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Times of India
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