A group of nine banks has invested $45 million in Carbonplace

According to a press release issued on Feb. 8, blockchain-based carbon credit transaction network Carbonplace managed to raise $45 million in an investment round from its nine founding banks, which together oversee $9 trillion in assets. The following financial institutions make up the banking system: BBVA, BNP Paribas, CIBC, Ita Unibanco, National Australia Bank, NatWest, Standard Chartered, SMBC, and UBS. The London-based fintech company also announced that it would become an independent business under the leadership of its new chief executive, Scott Eaton.

According to Carbonplace, the company plans to use the investment to strengthen its platform and workforce. This will allow the company to scale its services to a larger client base consisting of financial institutions and seek partnerships with other market players involved in the carbon market, such as registries and stock exchanges around the world. Carbonplace has been called the “SWIFT [Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications] carbon markets” because it will allow participants to share carbon data in real time. This will ensure secure and traceable transaction settlement. Carbonplace has been described as the “SWIFT [Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications] of carbon markets.

Robert Begbie, chief executive of NatWest Markets, commented on the news, citing McKinsey research that showed “global demand for voluntary carbon credits is projected to grow 15-fold over the next few years.” He said Carbonplace is uniquely positioned to address that need as the company offers scalable technology to environmentally conscious organizations.

Carbonplace has already conducted test transactions with several different organizations, including Visa and Climate Impact X, ahead of the service’s anticipated debut later this year. Carbonplace employs its own distributed ledger technology to perform clearing transactions. The company has praised digital wallets as a tool that “allows owners to accurately establish property on the market, reducing the dangers of double counting and simplifying reporting.”