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An ETF that holds bitcoins in Canada aims to mitigate its negative impact on the climate by planting trees.
Accelerate Financial Technologies ETF aims to be the first carbon-negative investment fund in the world.
The fund will be launched on August 31 at the Toronto Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol ABTC.
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Canadian bitcoin exchange-traded funds aim to offset their climate impact by planting trees in order to be the first carbon-negative investment fund.
According to Insider, Accelerate Financial Technologies will plant 3,450 trees for each $792,655 (or C$1,000,000) that is invested in the fund. This amount is 10% of the 69-basis point management fee that the fund has pledged to pay for its tree planting initiative.
The Calgary-based fund will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange on August 31 under the ticker symbol ABTC. The fund aims to provide investors with exposure to bitcoin's performance by investing in derivatives.
According to the company, the carbon offset initiative will be first centered on planting mangrove trees at Madagascar.
This announcement by the firm comes at a time when crypto mining is under intense scrutiny due to its high energy consumption. According to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, recent estimates have shown that cryptocurrency uses more energy than whole nations such as Sweden and Malaysia.
Accelerate aims to prove that bitcoin can fulfill the governance, environmental, and social standards investors have started to prioritize.
Under the ticker symbol ABTC.U, the fund will also be available to purchase in US Dollars. The US has yet not approved its own bitcoin ETF.
Julian Klymochko (founder and CEO) said, "I am happy to announce another true invention." He also launched Canada's first Bitcoin ETF in July 2017. "We're launching the first ever carbon-negative investment fund in the world."
