SkyBridge Capital has offset the carbon footprint of the Bitcoin held across its funds by purchasing and retiring tokens representing approximately 38,436 tons of carbon.
“We project that bitcoin mining will be fully renewable by the end of the decade,” said Anthony Scaramucci, Founder and Managing Partner of SkyBridge. “In the interim, carbon offsets represent an effective way to green the bitcoin network and facilitate adoption by ESG-minded investors.”. Scaramucci has said recently that every diversified portfolio should own at least a little bit of Bitcoin.
Offsets from Moss
SponsoredSkyBridge purchased these carbon offsets from Moss, who operates in the voluntary carbon offset market. This means that they source credits from independently verified projects that avoid deforestation that otherwise would occur.
Although Bitcoin is widely-known for having an outsized environmental impact, what is less agreed upon is how much that is. While estimates of Bitcoin’s total carbon footprint vary widely, SkyBridge used a more conservative estimate, based on Moss calculations, to determine the number of tokens required to offset the impact of its own positions.
Moss CEO and founder Luis Adaime commended the more proactive stance SkyBridge is taking with this move. Adaime feels that its “most probably the largest ever done by an institutional investor, and an example to be followed by the investment community.”. He was also encouraged that this would accelerate the migration of the bitcoin mining industry to renewable resources.
One River carbon counting
SkyBridge was introduced to Moss through fellow institutional bitcoin investor One River, who has also assisted in other crypto offset efforts. One River is developing a system that calculates the carbon cost of mining. It then buys the corresponding amount of carbon credits to account for it. The company also said it would build carbon neutrality into its existing bitcoin and ether (ETH) funds. Additionally, it is planning to seek regulatory approval for an ETF with the same features.
