One River Digital Asset Management Sees Rise in Institutional Demand for ‘Green Bitcoin’

One River Digital's index adds tokenized carbon credits as a premium to the bitcoin purchased.

AccessTimeIconJun 9, 2021 at 9:33 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 1:09 p.m. UTC
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Crypto asset manager One River Digital said an “overwhelming” majority of assets in its institutional bitcoin fund have chosen to switch to its new carbon neutral share class.

According to a press release, with the new share class clients have an option to invest in digital assets while offsetting the carbon emissions of crypto mining.

The recent interest in cryptocurrencies by large corporations has spotlighted the bitcoin mining process. Tesla’s recent decision not to accept bitcoin as payment for its electric vehicles highlighted the environmental issues that accompany bitcoin mining and spurred demand for a cleaner approach to owning bitcoin.

For One River, that means using an Index to assign a $55 tokenized carbon credit premium to each bitcoin purchased, which the firm says is based on the amount of carbon used to mine a single coin. One River then buys tokenized carbon credits, validated on a blockchain.

One River Digital looks to build an ecosystem that supports clean digital assets. One River President Sebastian Bea stated “We look forward to further opportunities as the digital asset ecosystem seeks a 100% carbon neutral future.”

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