Veridium – TGR ICO Natural Capital Tokens Environment FinTech?

Veridium describes itself as “the natural capital marketplace”. Find out how this ecosystem and its “Natural Capital Tokens” work today in our review.

What Is Veridium?

Veridium is an alternative trading and digital asset issuance network based on Ethereum. The goal of the platform is to provide a digital token for natural capital commodities and “EcoSmart-Commodities” (a term Veridium has trademarked). Some of the examples of things you can digitize with Veridium include carbon neutral or environmentally neutral commodities.

The first digital token, or Natural Capital asset, released by Veridium is called the TGR. Each TGR is backed by Triple Gold REDD+ credits, which are considered the world’s highest quality environmental credits.

REDD+ credits deliver compound environmental and social returns, forest and biodiversity conservation, carbon emissions, savings and reductions, and a positive social impact for forest-dependent indigenous communities.

TGRs create a common denominator that can easily integrate environmental mitigation credits into commodities transactions with far greater efficiency than anything available today. The TGR is described as a “cryptographic natural capital asset token”. You can trade tokens on the Veridium network. The Veridium network itself is a blockchain-based platform designed to provide open and transparent trading for the pricing of natural capital.

How Does The Veridium TGR Digital Token Work?

The TGR, or Triple Gold REDD+ token, is a digital asset traded on Veridium. Every block of 100 TGRs is backed by 1 REDD+ credit.

The REDD+ credits are sourced from InfiniteEARTH’s triple gold-verified Rimba Raya project. All tokens are 100% backed by real assets. Therefore, new “bitNaturas” will be issued only when more assets are acquired. bitNaturas is Veridium’s name for its smart contracts.

So far, land of over 5 million hectares spanning three continents has already been identified and fully vetted for inclusion in the project. That land spans three continents and represents an unmonetized value potential of over $200 billion USD.

TGR tokens can be traded for cash and cryptocurrency on the Veridium exchange. You can use it just like any other digital token – as a store of value or medium of exchange.

The value of Veridium’s TGRs, however, comes from the underlying REDD+ credit. Tokens can be redeemed for that REDD+ credit. When a token is redeemed, Veridium will destroy the TGR token and match this redemption with the transfer of the corresponding amount of REDD+ credits into the account of the token holder. The “account” is the token holder’s HIS Markit Registry or APX Registry. Token holders that don’t have one of these accounts can choose to “retire” a REDD+ credit, at which point the coin will be destroyed.

TGRs have their own registered account within the IHS Markit Registry and the APX Registry where the REDD+ credits will be registered.

The Veridium Card

Veridium plans to launch a Veridium Debit/Cred Card that “empowers the consumer to embed environmental offsets within everything they purchase using the Veridium card.” They can do this at zero cost to themselves. The Veridium card uses a cashback or reward points model that returns 1% of card purchases to the cardholder in the form of Veridium tokens, or VRDs, or any of the other environmental asset tokens available through the Veridium exchange (like TGRs).

At this point, cardholders can “retire” the tokens as a way to offset the environmental footprint of those purchases. Or, they can keep the tokens as a long-term investment in natural capital. As the value of natural capital increases, the value of the tokens will increase.

Veridium describes the card as a “triple dividend” card. It pays dividends to you, to the environment, and to those less fortunate than yourself.

How Do REDD+ Credits Work?

The value of Veridium’s TGRs comes from the value of REDD+ credits. REDD+ credits are an environmental protection mechanism designed to represent the untapped potential value of a certain piece of land. The credits represent the untapped value of that land – so by owning credits, you’re discouraging the land from being developed.

Here’s how Veridium explains it on the official website:

“REDD+ Credits are the only environmental mitigation credit which address the underlying causes of deforestation; as such, they are the only offset mechanism which can be used to achieve (true) sustainable supply chains. Currently, REDD+ Credits are only priced for one of it’s components – carbon sequestration. REDD+ credits have yet to reflect their real value, in terms of Water, Biodiversity and Social Impact.”

How Does Veridium Work?

We know how Veridium’s TGR tokens work, and we know how REDD+ credits work. But how does the actual Veridium platform work?

Veridium uses the Ethereum blockchain and Ethereum smart contracts to fuel its ecosystem. These technologies offer a host of benefits, including increased efficiency, lower overhead costs, fewer intermediaries, increased transparency, reduced risk of tampering and fraud, and reduced transaction times – which are all of the benefits we typically associate with blockchain.

Veridium has chosen to use blockchain technology because they understand the value of creating sustainable supply chains. Sustainable supply chains allow users to embed environmental replacement costs in the price of the products consumed – which is the same concept on which REDD+ credits is based.

Veridium and the TGR tokens make this possible through the use of EcoSmart-Commodities embedded in smart contracts.

Who’s Behind Veridium?

Veridium was founded by a team of companies, including ConsenSys, EnVision Corporation, and Alchemy Ventures.

ConsensSys is a venture production studio building decentralized applications and various developer/end-user tools for blockchain platforms. EnVision is a sustainable technology incubator focused on land conservation and environmental fintech. Alchemy Ventures is a full-service blockchain investment and advisory company.

You can contact the developers at [email protected]

Veridium Conclusion

Veridium is a way to represent natural capital on the blockchain. The company’s first digital token is the TGR, or Triple Gold REDD+ certified token. That token represents the value of untouched land. It represents the capital value that could be extracted from that land if it were developed – say, if the forest was deforested.

Overall, Veridium is creating a natural capital marketplace built on the Ethereum blockchain and smart contract technology. You can learn more about Veridium, or prepare for the upcoming ICO, by visiting the company online today at [email protected]