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

According to a news statement that was issued on February 8th, the blockchain-based carbon credit transaction network Carbonplace was successful in raising $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 financial technology company headquartered in London has also made the announcement that it would transition into an independent business under the leadership of its newly appointed CEO, Scott Eaton.

According to Carbonplace, the company plans to use the investment to strengthen its platform and workforce. This will enable 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] of carbon markets" because it will enable participants to share carbon data in real time. This will ensure a secure and traceable settlement of transactions. Carbonplace has been described as the "SWIFT [Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications] of carbon markets."

Robert Begbie, CEO of NatWest Markets, commented on the news by citing research from McKinsey which showed that "global demand for voluntary carbon credits is anticipated to expand by a factor of 15 in the next few years." He said that Carbonplace is in a unique position to address that need since the company offers scalable technology to organizations who are concerned about the environment.

Carbonplace has already conducted test transactions with a number of different organizations, including Visa and Climate Impact X, ahead of the anticipated debut of the service later on in this year. Carbonplace employs its own distributed ledger technology to conduct offset transactions. The company has praised digital wallets as a tool that "enables owners to accurately establish ownership to the market, therefore lowering the dangers of double counting and simplifying reporting."