NFT has now proven to a great addition in various sectors including gaming. For the past several years, blockchain technology and non-fungible token (NFT) spaces have been facing the wrath of regulatory authorities, notable financial institutions such as (IMF and World Bank) and environmentalists over their impact on the environment.
The rapidly evolving space has experienced stigma in some sections of the community for its impact on the ecosystem. But interestingly, Rob Schmitt, the chief operation officer (COO) at Toucan Protocol, believes that the new integration of carbon offsets into NFT gaming will reverse the negative perception about crypto.
According to app tracker DappRadar, gaming finance (GameFi), which merges NFTs and gaming, accounts for nearly $12 million in daily volume from over one million gamers. Schmitt believes that people will use these sales volumes to benefit the environment.
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In a recent short interview, the top executive asserted that using carbon offsets as an element in blockchain games could create a far most planet-friendly system that “we’ve ever seen.” Schmitt envisioned a GameFi space that utilizes carbon offsets as in-game currency and urged game makers to start getting creative. He stated:
“Games don’t have to have an entire economy based on offsets, but they should be embedded in a way that makes sense.”
In the same context, Schmitt noted that there are already NFT game makers currently working with Toucan to bring carbon offsets in their work, such as Atlantis World, adding:
“The narrative that ‘blockchain is killing the world’ is an argument we can turn around with carbon offsets.”
Toucan Protocol tokenizes certified carbon offsets on Polygon chain as Base Carbon Tonnes (BCT). The demand for a gaming company to go green started ramping up when game studio space Ape Games successfully went carbon green in 2019. Since then, notable gaming publishers such as SuperCell, Rovio, and Sybo have off settled their company carbon emissions.
Blockchain And NFT Sectors Are Going Green
On several occasions, many traditional gaming industries have repeatedly spread the perception that blockchain technology possesses a negative impact on the environment. In October 2021, major online gaming outlets prohibited any title linked with NFTs or cryptocurrencies. Later on, in February 2022, gaming platform Itch.io slammed the NFT space, tweeting that:
“NFTs are a scam” that aren’t useful for anything other than “the destruction of the planet.”
The rapidly spreading negative perceptions generalize the entire blockchain, blemishing the awareness of the carbon emissions in association with different consensus mechanisms. Polygon chains, among other NFT and gaming-focused chains that utilize the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanisms, are power effective and pose a limited impact on environments.
In April, the team behind Polygon announced that they aim to make the network carbon neutral before the end of this year. More blockchain networks supporting gaming and features carbon footprints include WAX, Solana, and BNB Chain. Ethereum expects to shift into PoS in the coming months, with August being the most recent estimate for the highly anticipated merger.
Although ecosystem conservation is a lofty goal for all, Schmitt noted that “going green doesn’t have to be climate action.” He stated that gamers do not necessarily have to be aware that the games they enjoy may be carbon neutral, citing that it does not need more action to have an impact. He added:
“The vast majority of games won’t be related to climate action, but only a small portion of them are needed to do a lot of good.”
Before summarizing, Schmitt noted that climate activism does not require the main focus for game developers, especially if they are already working on climate-friendly blockchain:
“Developers should focus on making fun games first, and they may be able to attract new audiences with carbon offset integrations.”
