Bitcoin Carbon Offset Initiative

Our industry needs to rapidly decarbonise. ETC Group is at the forefront of this drive and are working with bitcoin miners, globally, to do their part in driving the industry to exceed the goals set out in the Paris Climate accord.

The Approach

ETC Group has taken the first step by buying carbon offsets, working with some of the most respected climate strategy experts in the world. To calculate the offsets required, they carried out a calculation of the carbon footprint of the bitcoin mining process, making their approach available via the link below.

They have worked with the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute , global experts in the field, to calculate the carbon emissions of the BTCE - ETC Group Physical Bitcoin ETC since its inception. It is important for ETC Group that this work can be peer reviewed. The calculation methodology is available as part of this report.

ETC Group hopes that this methodology can become the standard across the bitcoin industry including digital asset management companies, and that all holders/owners of bitcoin will follow in their footsteps.

That’s why ETC Group is not only revealing their methodology, but are also open to helping other funds and investors in the industry to offset, as a starting point, and drive industry-wide decarbonisation going forward.

Having done the research to calculate the carbon intensity of their assets, ETC Group engaged three groups, all global leaders in carbon strategy, reduction and offsetting. Through them, ETC Group picked a portfolio of projects which align with their values and will maximise long term carbon avoidance and removal, focusing on biodiversity, carbon sequestration and renewable energy.

ETC Group will be publishing the details of these projects on this page shortly.

Join this initiative

To demonstrate how serious ETC Group are to get this right, they invite any investor or owner of large quantities of bitcoin to contact them for advice or with comments and suggestions at this email: carbonneutral@etc-group.com.

This is an open invitation to the entire industry to embark with the ETC Group on this journey.

About the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI)

The Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI) is a research-driven institution providing carbon estimates for investments in cryptocurrencies and technologies such as Blockchain and DLT. CCRI's clients strongly care about a sustainable future and are interested in the environmental impacts their decisions have. We help our clients to understand the technology they are using, how they interact or expose themselves to technology, and the environmental impact of this usage or exposure.

We rely on established scientific methodologies published in highly ranked and peer-reviewed journals to estimate the energy consumption and carbon footprint of cryptocurrencies. CCRI's members have contributed to advance the science behind such estimations and continue to do so (please see our website for already published and upcoming publications). If such methodologies have not been established for a concrete cryptocurrency, CCRI strives to understand, develop, and execute methodologies to model the environmental effects.

Due to our strong commitment to a sustainable future, we do not offer superficial short-term "band-aids" or support companies in greenwashing. Rather, we tailor custom solutions to the needs of our customers to ensure continuous and thorough methodologies for their sustainable business operations.

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