Even as cryptocurrencies seemed to have captured to imagination of many across the world, the section offlate has come under criticism, as its mines consume large amounts of energy. Bitcoin, reportedly, consumes around 91 terawatt per hour of electricity annually. In conversation with FE.com’s Ritarshi Banerjee, Shailendra Singh, founder, Creduce, talks about how cryptocurrencies contribute towards socio-environmental factors and how the company aims to build a carbon-free environment for trading.(edited excerpts)
How does the energy consumption by crypto mining contribute towards socio-environmental factors?
The native cryptocurrencies run on parallel servers, which are energy intensive because of their mining feature. The minting and mining of each cryptocurrency consumes a lot of energy in terawatts. We can’t say about the environment-friendly factor because it varies from cryptocurrency to cryptocurrency. Certain cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon, are energy intensive. They consume carbon by offsetting their energy consumption via the elements of fossil fuels. Blockchain technology consumes less energy than all the pre-existing technologies in the world.
What is the business strategy of Creduce, and how does it aim to contribute towards a carbon-free environment?
Creduce’s technology was established with the aim of helping companies go carbon-free. We started with the aim of helping energy renewal companies get carbon credits from international registries. Last year, we converted from a partnership firm to a full fledged private limited organisation. We have developed more than 50 million carbon credits, estimated at $600 million in the current market. The company aims to contribute towards the Indian government’s carbon-free initiative by the year 2025. We have around 500 clients, 14,000 megawatts of renewal projects and three lakh hectares of forestry projects, which should help with the creation of more than 100 million carbon credits. By 2030, we aim to create at least one billion carbon offset programs within the Indian subcontinent.
What is Creduce’s revenue projection for FY23?
For FY23, we aim to achieve between Rs 800 to 1,200 crores, on the basis of the carbon credits which are up for trade. From the perspective of business verticals such as consulting, project development, carbon trading and our launched cryptocurrency, we are hoping for growth. Our Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited created carbon credits around 1,000 crore, and we have also signed a deal with a Singapore based hedge fund.
How is the marketing strategy of Creduce different from other companies?
Cryptocurrency is one of the verticals that we have recently entered into, via the flagship project Keepers of International Carbon-Hydro Energy and Environment Efficiency (KICHEEE). A certain portion of our carbon credits has been converted into wrapped assets on the Polygon network, which are then bifurcated into KICHEEE coins. Every KICHEEE token will be representing a certain portion of carbon credits. We want to develop a sustainable blockchain token.
How can a clean source of mining cryptocurrencies be devised?
There isn’t a particular method of clean mining of cryptocurrencies. The cryptocurrency servers will consume electricity, which contributes towards climate change. For avoiding that, cryptocurrency developers should use renewable energy as their native source. Recently, Bitcoin and Ethereum started adopting solar energy. Ethereum also raised $400 million to be invested for supporting clean energy generation, and Polygon has done the same. I believe renewable energy is the answer for supporting cryptocurrency mines, in terms of a carbon-free environment.
