In Brief:
- Accelerate plans to launch a carbon-negative bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
- The ETF looks to become the world’s first carbon-negative investment fund.
Accelerate Financial Technologies, a Canadian bitcoin ETF pledged to plant trees to balance its climate impact. With this, it is set to become the world’s first carbon-negative investment fund. The fund will launch on August 31 on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ABTC.
The ETF will plant approximately 3,450 trees for every C$1 million invested in the fund. The plantation will sequestrate bout 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
“We’re highly cognizant of the concept of greenwashing,” Julian Klymochko, Accelerate’s chief investment officer, said in an interview.
Cryptocurrencies are facing major scrutiny around the world because of their energy use. Bitcoin depends on a massive network of independent computers.
Accelerate is looking to change the perception of Bitcoin’s environmental impact. Its strategy is to meet the growing demand for ESG exposure from investors. Accelerate minimized the notion that the offering could be considered another example of marketing spin being used to persuade investors that the fund is environmentally friendly.
Klymochko also added that he’s been skeptical of products being offered elsewhere along with equity-linked ESG metrics. These metrics don’t necessarily aid the environment. Accelerate preferred a tangible option via tree planting versus buying so-called carbon credits, with the latter not producing the same environmental benefits, he said.
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