American cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has launched a new initiative aimed at offsetting the carbon footprint of its Bitcoin holdings. To accomplish the goal, Gemini has partnered with Climate Vault, a non-profit organization run by the University of Chicago. In an announcement on Thursday, the exchange said it has purchased over $4 million in carbon permits to offset the carbon emissions from using the Bitcoin network between January 1 to June 30 this year. A carbon permit, sometimes called a carbon credit, is sort of like a hall pass that lets companies emit a certain amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The more a company pollutes, the more credits it needs to offset these emissions. This also creates an incentive to reduce emissions. If a company produces fewer greenhouse gases than its allotted permits allow, it can resell the permits for a profit.
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