Earth Day: Now save the world while donating crypto

Pledge, a crypto fundraising platform for non-profits, announced the launch of its patent-pending carbon offset initiative on Friday on the occasion of Earth Day. After the launch, every crypto transaction made on the platform will support verified carbon offset projects. 

The process of mining cryptocurrency uses a significant amount of energy which contributes to global carbon emissions. 

To reduce its carbon footprint, Pledge commissioned an environmental consulting firm, Three Squares Inc, to conduct a cryptocurrency environmental impact assessment to quantify the carbon emissions of cryptocurrency transactions made on the platform, the company said in a statement.

The platform also announced in the release that eight of the most used cryptocurrencies were evaluated in-depth to quantify the emissions associated with a single transaction. This in-depth analysis factored in the total estimated energy of the cryptocurrency, matched with published recent transaction volumes. 

Furthermore, a weighted electricity emissions factor was derived based on the regional breakdown of transaction locations around the globe. Multiple data sets were also used to ensure optimal data integrity. 

Data from the study concluded that while the final emissions vary based on the energy used, location, and the currency being donated, roughly every 100 donations generate approximately 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. To compensate for this environmental impact, the donation platform announced that they will cover 100 per cent of the carbon footprint of each donation transaction at no additional cost to donors or nonprofits using PledgeCrypto.

"At Pledge, we fundamentally believe that unlocking crypto donations will provide an abundant new source of funding for nonprofits around the globe, but the process needs to be done in a sustainable way,” said James Citron, CEO of Pledge, in a statement.

He further added, “We wanted to respond to environmental concerns about crypto. (the new) patent-pending invention (will) ensure that every crypto transaction through Pledge will support UNverified projects. This ensures that PledgeCrypto will not only be the most accessible way for donors to donate their digital assets and for nonprofits to receive them, but also in the most environmentally conscious way in the industry.”