Mark Cuban Thrusts Carbon Economy Crypto Project Into Spotlight

Sustainability has been thrust into the spotlight once again in the cryptocurrency market by another billionaire. This time, Mark Cuban sparked the debate on Twitter in response to an Cointelegraph article on Klima DAO that caught his attention.

Klima has amassed some 9.9  million tons of carbon offsets in its treasury, each of which the project says is tokenized, removed from the market and “absorbed into the system” via a “bonding mechanism.” Bonding is how the carbon credit makes its way into the treasury, thereby creating new KLIMA tokens.

Cuban took notice of the progress. The Dallas Mavericks owner ultimately revealed that he has been scooping up tens of thousands of dollars worth of carbon offsets at a time to support renewable energy. Fellow billionaire Elon Musk recently brought attention to the carbon footprint that Bitcoin mining leaves behind, in response to which the industry has taken steps toward greater sustainability.

 

KlimaDAO is on the Polygon network, the native token for which is MATIC. Cuban is a backer of Polygon, which was formerly known as the Matic Network.

Cuban’s Strategy

Cuban’s tweet received hundreds of replies, chief among which came from venture investor Chris Sacca. He cheered the “intentions and progress” of carbon offsets but wants to see a paradigm shift “into permanent carbon removal.” Otherwise, he warns, the planet will be doomed.

Sacca’s concern is that offsets will become just a smokescreen for actual carbon removal, kind of like the greenwashing that can taint ESG investments for funds. He wants to see carbon removal, and Cuban agrees with him.

The Mavericks owner also points out that Klima is an emerging project, one that is a DAO, making its direction contingent on the community. He says “the opportunity is there for all of us to set the direction.”

On that note, Cuban revealed that he has been purchasing “$50k in offsets every 10 days or so.” He has been “verifying them and putting them on chain as Base Carbon Tonnes (BCT)” on the blockchain, seemingly with Klima. Cuban added that he would be willing to replicate this formula and even add to it “with removal within KLIMA.”

 

After rising as high as $1,717 on Nov. 12, the Klima price has fallen to just below $1,250.

KLIMA has been volatile and has traded close to $4,000 in its short history since launching in mid-October.