Joins Climate Vault to Remove Nearly 350K Tons of Bitcoin-related CO2 from Atmosphere as Part of Long-Term Strategy to help Decarbonize Bitcoin
Marks Breakthrough Innovation in both Bitcoin Carbon Management and Market-Based Carbon Offsets
Gemini, a crypto platform, today announced Gemini Green, a long-term initiative to incorporate climate conscious practices into its business. The company is collaborating with Climate Vault, a non-profit founded at the University of Chicago, by making contributions to purchase carbon permits for nearly 350,000 metric tons of carbon as a significant first step on its path to offset its usage of the Bitcoin Network and help decarbonize Bitcoin. More specifically, these carbon permits offset the non-renewable energy consumed by miners on the Bitcoin Network to secure the bitcoin that Gemini custodies.
Through Climate Vault, Gemini has made possible the purchase of carbon permits directly from government-regulated cap-and-trade markets and removed them from circulation. This prevents other market participants from using these carbon permits to emit CO2 and reduces the overall supply of carbon permits. The resulting reduction in allowed emissions is equivalent to nearly a billion miles driven by a typical passenger car. Climate Vault will ultimately leverage the value of these “vaulted” permits to support the development of cutting-edge carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies, further accelerating the removal of carbon from the atmosphere. Gemini is the first crypto platform in the world to offset its carbon emissions.
Bitcoin’s energy consumption results from the mining process that secures the Bitcoin blockchain. Therefore, Gemini calculates its “usage” of the Bitcoin Network as the portion of the mining process that it benefits from, as opposed to taking a transaction-based approach. Gemini will collaborate with Climate Vault in an ongoing program to offset and ultimately remove the CO2 related to the bitcoin that Gemini custodies.
“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,” said Tyler Winklevoss, CEO of Gemini.
“Slowing and ultimately reversing the total amount of CO2 entering the atmosphere is vital to preventing disruptive climate change. Climate Vault is providing a simpler, faster, and more reliable path to net-zero emissions, not just for traditional businesses, but now – thanks to Gemini – for the innovative world of cryptocurrency,” said Michael Greenstone, Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and Co-Founder of Climate Vault.
Climate Vault deploys a unique, verifiable, three-step approach to offset emissions and ultimately remove CO2 from the atmosphere:
- First, Climate Vault uses contributions to purchase emissions permits in well-established and closely regulated carbon markets in North America.
- Then Climate Vault “vaults” these permits, preventing other market participants from using them to emit CO2 and effectively reducing the CO2 allowed under the market’s “cap.”
- Finally, Climate Vault will use the monetary value of these permits to fund the actual removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by enterprises that are deploying breakthrough carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies.
As part of Gemini Green, in addition to supporting Climate Vault, the company has allocated $1 million through the Gemini Opportunity Fund to support companies, projects, and nonprofits that are focused on sustainability in the crypto industry.
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