Mogo launches the world’s first climate-positive Bitcoin

By Joy Dumasia

Mogo, digital payments and financial technology company, has launched ‘green’ bitcoin, making all bitcoin purchased on the Mogo platform climate positive. For every bitcoin purchased through its platform, Mogo will plant enough trees to completely offset the CO2 emissions produced by mining that bitcoin.

The global market for cryptocurrencies recently grew to a record high of over US$2.7 trillion, and bitcoin alone accounted for approximately 50% of that value. So far in October, bitcoin’s average 24-hour trading volume has exceeded US$37 billion.

Bitcoin has great potential for investors that value ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles, but its environmental impact remains a barrier; bitcoin mining uses as much power annually as the entire country of Sweden. While some miners embrace green energy at the source, approximately 18.8 million bitcoins have already been mined to date; an estimated 421,000 lbs of CO2 emissions are released into our atmosphere for each bitcoin mined. This negative impact discourages many Canadians from adding bitcoin to their portfolios.

To address the magnitude of this problem, Mogo will plant trees to offset 500,000 lbs of CO2 for each bitcoin on its platform. This action offsets 79,000 lbs of CO2 more than is produced by mining each bitcoin and effectively turns a Mogo bitcoin investment into climate action.

David Feller, CEO of Mogo, said: “Bitcoin is the best performing asset class of the past decade with massive inflows of capital daily. But the tremendous potential of bitcoin is hindered by its environmental impact; the emissions created by mining are among the greatest problems facing this asset class today. By launching ‘green’ bitcoin, we’ve made buying bitcoin good for the planet and arguably one of the most ESG-oriented investments anyone can make.”