Flowcarbon, a blockchain-enabled carbon credit trading platform cofounded by WeWork founder Adam Neumann, announced on Saturday that it has postponed the launch of its token due to slowing operations triggered by the current difficulties in the market.
Flowcarbon co-founder Dana Gibber told Bloomberg media that the firm has decided to wait for markets to stabilize before it embarks on launching its products. The company expected to launch the token at the end of June but has now postponed it indefinitely.
“We invest with a long-term view and remain very confident about the market,” Arianna Simpson, an a16z partner who handled an investment in Flowcarbon, said.
Flowcarbon is a climate technology firm that brings carbon credits onto blockchain. The startup combines cryptocurrencies with carbon credits to create tokens that can be burned when an owner wants to offset emissions. The token is known as the Goddess Nature Token (GNT).
FlowCarbon offers tokenized carbon credits to firms seeking to lower their carbon footprint. The credits can then be trading exchanges on crypto exchanges.
According to FlowCarbon, these credits are traded until they are redeemed by the user, who can then claim the offset’s environmental impact. The company said the token could be sold or redeemed for an underlying real-world credit.
Carbon markets are exceedingly opaque, and providing carbon credits can increase revenue and enhance transparency for buyers. Besides FlowCarbon, several venture capitalists such as OffsetFarm, JustCarbon, and Carbon Interface are also hinting toward the carbon credit market as they consider carbon credits a credible revenue source for projects.
Flowcarbon raised $70 million in a funding round led by a16z, Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm, in May. Other investors participated in the funding round, including General Catalyst, Samsung Next, RSE Ventures, and Allegory Labs.
Weak Market Conditions
The news by Flowcarbon follows other tokens’ launch delays. Earlier this week, cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX delayed the launch of its native token BMEX amid volatile market conditions. On July 12, BitMEX announced that it would not proceed with listing its native cryptocurrency BMEX on its spot exchange. The decision by BitMEX to delay the launch came citing unfavourable market conditions.
South Korea-based SK Square, an investment arm of conglomerate SK Group, on June 22, stated that it would delay the launch of its crypto token due to volatility and FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) in the current crypto market.
The ongoing market crash has left major cryptocurrencies falling by more than 70%, and Bitcoin is currently trading at the $20,000 level from a high of more than $60,000 in November.
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