The funding will help accelerate the modernization of the carbon credit market. Carbon markets allow companies and individuals to exchange carbon credits to offset CO2 emissions that some companies cannot eliminate.
Ripple also said it is investing in new functionality to tokenize carbon credits.
CEO Brad Garlinghouse claims that a blockchain company can play a huge role in improving carbon markets.
Last October, Garlinghouse commented that it takes 75 gallons of gasoline per bitcoin transaction to highlight the wastefulness of mining. Ripple-backed XRP is positioned as an energy-efficient alternative.
A recent study shows that combining cryptocurrency trading with carbon offsetting can help significantly reduce bitcoin’s environmental impact. Due to looming regulation, bitcoin miners have begun to focus on achieving carbon neutrality.
Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple, and Greenpeace USA recently launched a campaign targeting Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism. Larsen argues that Bitcoin developers can switch to Proof-of-Stake to significantly reduce power consumption.