Canada's Mogo To Plant A Tree For Every Bitcoin Traded On It To OffSet Mining Effect

Mogo Inc (MOGO) soared 11.2 percent in premarket trading Wednesday after the Canada-based digital payment company introduced the world's first climate-positive 'green' bitcoin.

Mogo said it will plant enough trees for every bitcoin acquired through its marketplace to offset the CO2 emissions caused by mining that bitcoin. The project also includes bitcoins currently held by members on the platform.

The global cryptocurrency market just reached a new high of $2.7 trillion, with bitcoin accounting for half of that value. Bitcoin's average 24-hour trading volume has surpassed $37 billion till date in October.

Bitcoin has huge potential for investors who are conscious about ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) aspects, but its environmental factor is still a concern; bitcoin mining consumes as much electricity as Sweden does every year. Many Canadians are hesitant to add bitcoin to their portfolios because of this detrimental impact.

While some miners are incorporating green energy at the source, a total of 18.8 million bitcoins have been mined to date, with each bitcoin releasing an estimated 421K lbs of CO2 into the environment. To address this challenge, Mogo will plant trees to offset 500K lbs of CO2 for each bitcoin purchased through its platform, which will offset 79K lbs of CO2 more than is produced by mining each bitcoin.

“Bitcoin is the best performing asset class of the past decade with massive inflows of capital daily,” said David Feller, CEO of Mogo. “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.”

Mogo has been a leading player in sustainable financing with the only card in Canada that turns spending into climate action by planting a tree every time you utilize it. In addition to all bitcoins acquired on its marketplace, the company is offsetting the impact of its own corporate bitcoin investment.