Here's the theory: Instead linking carbon and biodiversity credits to sales of raw materials like forests, which produce CO2, what if they were linked to crypto tokens and kept these CO2-producing material in the ground?Single.Earth has raised a seed round of $7.9 million led by Swedish VC EQT Ventures. This funding will be used to tokenize nature. Icebreaker, Ragnar Sass, and Martin Henk (founders of Pipedrive) were also part of the round. This funding will be used for the launch of its marketplace for nature-backed MERIT tokens.Single.Earth claims that its nature-backed financial system will be using MERIT tokens. Their plan may work, considering that the market for carbon credits will be worth more than $50 Billion by 2030 and crypto has surpassed a $2 Trillion market cap in 2021.It will create a digital twin to nature that shows how much CO2 is being absorbed by any given area. It plans to use satellite imagery and environmental data to create global carbon models that it can base its token marketplace. This will generate profits through carbon compensations and mining MERIT tokens for each 100 kg of CO2 stored in a particular forest or biodiverse region.MERIT tokens can then be used to trade, offset a carbon footprint or contribute to climate goals. Once the token has been used up, it cannot be traded again. These tokens will be available for purchase by individuals, companies, and organisations. They can also be used to own fractional quantities of natural resources and receive carbon and biodiversity offsets. According to the company, the carbon credit market will be worth more than $50 Billion by 2030.Payment to landowners will be instant due to the traceability of blockchain, and its link with a tradable token.Merit Valdsalu, CEO, and Andrus Aaslaid, CTO of Single.Earth co-founded the company in 2019. Valdsalu stated that nature conservation is sustainable, affordable, and financially viable. It is also vital to create a system of change.Sandra Malmberg (EQT Ventures Venture Lead) said: Oil was the new gold; data is the new oil. Nature is now the most valuable and precious resource of all. We are proud to support a company that has a hectare of forest preserved as a key metric for scale. It is a tempting investment to disrupt the financial and economic markets by creating a new liquid and tradable asset class that has a positive effect on the environment.
