First Carbon Corp, a next generation technology platform focused on wider tokenised access to carbon credits and ESG solutions, tells us it has accelerated its blockchain and smart contract development capabilities, as well as bolstered its executive team via the addition of key personnel, including a new CEO.
First Carbon says it has beefed out its product management and business development talent pool, resulting in shorter commercialisation timelines for its minting platform MintCarbon.io.
MintCarbon: why is it important?
MintCarbon has already caught our attention for a number of reasons: it makes it easier for companies to take part in the global effort to reduce their impact on the environment and further benefits of the platform include permission-less global trading on decentralised trading platforms (such as OpenSea.io) and secure and easy access for investors into an emerging asset class.
The platform also offers access to a growing pool of capital in the cryptocurrency markets and programmable functionality through smart contracts and composable primitives that enable new types of capital formation and trading. It also has a framework designed to increase the flow of capital into carbon reduction initiatives, helping underfunded environmental companies and projects.
Mo Yang to the fore on nextgen carbon NFT project
First Carbon has named Mo Yang as CEO and Derek McKenzie as Head of Business Development. Yang has extensive experience in the areas of currency trading, regulatory reporting, blockchain/crypto business accounting, management reporting, technology implementation, capital raising and VC investment.
Yang’s expertise has allowed him to advise companies such as Polymath and related companies in a CFO capacity on tax structuring, financial reporting and operations management. His experience includes building and growing tech companies with complex holdings, M&A, capital raising and complex cryptocurrency accounting and treasury management.
Yang is a graduate of the Master program of accounting at Concordia University in Quebec, speaks fluent English, French and Mandarin and is a Certified Professional Account.
What does First Carbon do?
First Carbon leverages its technical capabilities to engage with global carbon credit producers, brokers, purchasers and streaming services. The company’s ESG tokenisation platform MintCarbon.io provides an onramp to the blockchain for carbon credit holders and aims to generate revenue through multiple streams including but not limited to upfront minting and recurring royalties.
Demand for voluntary carbon credits is forecast to increase significantly, driven by surging corporate net zero commitments globally. The Institute of International Finance believes there is “huge upside potential” for voluntary carbon credits, predicting the market could be worth as much as $100bn/year by 2050.
Increased pressure on corporations to implement ESG policies has resulted in rapidly growing demand for carbon offset markets. Due to these developments, the total value of global carbon markets grew five times since 2017, hitting a record $261 billion in 2020.
“We are pleased with the progress of our platform development which is currently in beta testing,” Yang said this week. “Our growing pipeline of business development leads is a testament to the carbon market’s need for a platform such as MintCarbon. We are on track to commence minting non-fungible tokens and thus initiate revenue streams for Q1-2022.”
MintCarbon NFT’s are powered by Ethereum and tradeable on global decentralised platforms based on the blockchain. The ERC1155-compliant tokens are to be backed by real, verified carbon credits, providing increased transparency, liquidity and security in carbon offset trading.
