IBM-Linked Veridium Labs Announces $5 Million Investment Prior to ICO
September 20, 2018 by Ian Edwards
Veridium Labs, which earlier this year partnered up with IBM and Stellar to tokenize carbon credits, said on September 20th that it has received a fresh $5 million USD investment from well-known crypto investors like Brian Kelley Capital Management and BlockTower Capital. The news comes just shortly before Veridium holds its ICO on October 1st.
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Investors Reportedly Buying Two Tokens
Other investors announced were JCH Capital PTY and Pink Sky Capital. According to the press release and information told to Bitsonline by Veridium Labs, the investors mentioned today are buying a digital token called CARBON as well as verde tokens, which are an access token to Veridium’s new crypto exchange.
In May, news broke that Veridium had struck a deal with IBM and Stellar to create a digital token on Stellar’s blockchain, CARBON. This token represents tradeable carbon credits, which are used in emissions trading systems, also known as “cap and trade.” These credits are designed to reduce the amount of harmful gases produced by human activity, such as carbon dioxide.
So What Exactly Is Veridium Selling?
Per Veridium, each CARBON token is backed by a mix of carbon, conservation, and renewable energy credits and worth at least $10 each. These credits come from InfiniteEARTH, which is owned by EnVision Corporation, who are also the owners of Veridium Labs. InfiniteEARTH manages the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Preserve (RRBP), a 640 square kilometer (240 square mile) tropical peat forest on the island of Borneo.
InfiniteEARTH, as a for-profit enterprise, has the goal of preserving the land in the RRBP, and then selling carbon credits to companies who are exceeding their emission allowances. InfiniteEARTH has already contracted to sell carbon credits based on the RRBP to German financial firm Allianz and Microsoft, per the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
The carbon credits are certified under the REDD+ forest carbon accounting methodology, which was negotiated under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and incorporated into the Paris Climate Agreement.
ICO Taking Place on October 1st
However, the REDD+ credits aren’t easily tradeable, and that’s the problem that Veridium is attempting to solve. Jared Klee, blockchain manager for token initiatives at IBM, told TechCrunch that accounting for the REDD+ credits “is a major pain point. Today Redd+ credits are over the counter assets and there is no central exchange.” So, Veridium is building out a crypto-asset exchange on which the credits can be traded as digital CARBON tokens.
Veridium will be holding an ICO that begins on October 1st, where investors will also be able to buy CARBON and verde tokens. While InfiniteEARTH claims the REDD+ carbon credits which come from the RRBP are certified by the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), this is a voluntary standard and it’s unclear how widespread adoption of Veridium’s new system will be.
Have your say. Do you think Veridium’s modus operandi is a good idea or not? Let us know in the comments below.
Images via Pixabay
