TSXV: MKT OTC: MKTDF FRA: DEP
Blackrock, BMO, CPP Investments and
Norton Rose Fulbright are Helping to
Drive Significant Interest in the Carbon Offset Market, Which is
Directing a Steady Flow of New Opportunities to
DeepMarkit
CALGARY,
AB, Sept. 12, 2022 /CNW/ - DeepMarkit
Corp., ("DeepMarkit" or the "Company") (TSXV: MKT) (OTC: MKTDF)
(FRA: DEP), a company focused on transitioning the global carbon
offset market to the more accessible digital economy by minting
carbon offsets onto the blockchain, is pleased to provide an
industry and corporate update. Amidst the backdrop of several
significant events recently occurring in the carbon offset
industry, the DeepMarkit management team is providing the following
update to keep current and future shareholders, as well as the
media, informed about its unique competitive position in a growing
asset class.
Industry Developments
Recent milestones in the carbon industry include but are not
limited to:
- Blackstone's investing $400
million in Xpansiv – the leading global carbon
and environmental commodities exchange platform1;
- BMO purchasing Radicle Group – a leading carbon
offset developer with over 130 employees and over 4,000 clients
globally2;
- CPP Investments, with a fund value of $523 Billion (as of June
30, 2022), adding an "Investing in the Potential of Carbon
Credits" section to the homepage of its website3;
and
- Norton Rose Fulbright
publishing its "Draft Core Carbon Principles for the Voluntary
Carbon Market" as a large, global law firm4.
Additionally, Bloomberg News reported that "a record
US$1.4 billion poured into climate
and carbon-focused startups in the second quarter of this year" in
an article published on August 17,
2022. The flow of capital is being driven by corporate and
government pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and around the world. As
such, the DeepMarkit team is encouraged by the current industry
environment and its updated strategy plan.
DeepMarkit's Competitive
Position
DeepMarkit's overall plan is based on combining the growth of
the informal carbon offset market with the maturation of blockchain
technology. The chance to make carbon offsets the first tangible
asset class to adopt blockchain as its backbone is enticing and
valuable.
By leveraging the secure and transparent blockchain, the Company
has created and launched MintCarbon.io to offer a simple onboarding
process and other innovations to users in the voluntary carbon
market for them to enjoy as a way to access carbon offsets.
DeepMarkit's user-focused service seeks to ensure that carbon
offsets that are onboarded are only of the highest quality and have
passed rigorous third-party checks.
DeepMarkit's platform allows for a compelling way to work with
carbon offset generating companies and projects to bring their
story to the blockchain. It assists in adding a qualitative layer
to the various projects and embed additional data relative to an
ERC-20 token standard.
MintCarbon.io is intended to be collaborative and to add an
additional way of distribution for projects and carbon offset
brokers. Although there are several firms looking to tokenize
assets, The platform's focus is to add the story of the project and
embed project data within the token allowing for a more robust,
project-friendly offering.
Carbon Offsets – A Growing Asset
Class
A key initiative among global efforts to fight climate change,
the voluntary carbon offset markets ("VCM") allow companies
around the world to reduce and remove CO2 emissions over
and above what would otherwise be possible. The size of the VCM has
grown rapidly in recent years with the value of global voluntary
carbon markets nearly quadrupling in 2021 towards US$2 billion driven by nearly 500 million offsets
traded.
Prices climbed in 2021 by nearly 60% over 2020 to a point not
seen since 2013, reaching an annual global weighted average price
per ton of $4.00 for all transactions
reported by Ecosystem Marketplace respondents, compared with
$2.52 in 20206. Looking
ahead, the rise in corporate net zero pledges (particularly from
firms in carbon intensive sectors) should underpin demand and
support expansion in VCMs growth in years to come.
Recent Milestones
Achieved
- The Company's wholly owned subsidiary, First Carbon Corp., has
received a Security Assessment Certificate from Quantstamp, Inc. In
order to receive the Certificate, Quantstamp evaluated and passed
security-related issues, code quality and adherence to
specifications and best practices related to the MintCarbon.io
platform's smart contracts. The Company complied with Quantstamp's
iterative audit process to rigorously review and test the
MintCarbon.io platform's blockchain-based smart contracts.
Quantstamp performed the security assessment of the platform's
codebase and FCC incorporated feedback and recommendations from
Quantstamp to complete the audit and receive the Certificate. All
audited smart contracts are now ready to be deployed on the
MintCarbon.io platform.
- The Company achieved the commercial launch of its proprietary
MintCarbon.io platform and received its first purchase order which
came from WILL Solutions Inc. ("WILL") which is a
Quebec, Canada based leader in
community-based greenhouse gas reduction solutions. Subject to the
satisfactory verification of WILL's carbon offsets, WILL will be
allow-listed to mint up to 150,000 tokens, representing 150,000
tons of GHGs, via DeepMarkit's MintCarbon.io platform.
- The Company signed a letter of intent with Bloom X Alliance
Inc. to form a referral arrangement. Pursuant to the key terms in
the LOI, DeepMarkit and BloomX are working to form the Arrangement
through which BloomX will introduce and onboard carbon offset
projects onto the blockchain through DeepMarkit's proprietary
minting platform, MintCarbon.io. Based in Japan, BloomX is a blockchain-based products
and services company seeking to reduce cost and improve efficiency
of international asset transfers. It looks to participate and
invest in blockchain-based products and services as well as other
technology-enabled and related growth opportunities.
Management Commentary
"Our leading MintCarbon.io platform is secure, easy to use and
remains unrivaled in the industry so far. On that basis, and given
growing interest in this new asset class, I expect material growth
in the number of carbon offsets to be minted into tokens via
MintCarbon.io over the next year," said Ranjeet Sundher, Chief Executive Officer of
DeepMarkit. "Blackrock, BMO CPP Investments and Norton Rose Fulbright are only but a few of the
major players that are drawing attention to the carbon markets.
Making it easier for people and companies to access carbon offsets
to improve the environment is the ultimate goal," added Mr.
Sundher.
ABOUT DEEPMARKIT
DeepMarkit Corp. is a company focused on democratizing access to
the voluntary carbon offset market by minting offsets into NFTs.
Its common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the
"MKT" stock symbol, on the OTC market in the United States under the "MKTDF" symbol and
on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the "DEP" symbol. DeepMarkit
Corp. is a software infrastructure company operating in the
tokenization vertical of the blockchain. Its primary asset,
MintCarbon.io, is a web-based platform that facilitates the minting
of carbon offsets into NFTs (based on the ERC-1155 standard) or
other secure tokens (based on the ERC-20 standard).
On behalf of:
DEEPMARKIT CORP.
"Ranjeet Sundher"
Ranjeet Sundher, CEO
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this news release.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
Statements in this news release may contain forward-looking
information. Any statements that are contained in this news release
that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be
forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the
completion of satisfactory verification of the carbon offsets and
other conditions to the minting transaction, the completion of the
minting by WILL Solutions of its carbon offsets, statements
relating to the possibility of exchanging the tokens described
herein on third party token exchanges, and statements relating to
the Company's business and corporate plans. The reader is cautioned
that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking
information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may
cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as
a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and
other factors, many of which are beyond the control of DeepMarkit.
Additional information regarding risks and uncertainties of the
Company's business are contained under the heading "Business Risks
and Uncertainties" in the Company's MD&A in respect of the
period ended March 31, 2022 and the
Company's other public filings which are available under the
Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Various factors can
cause the actual results to differ materially from those in
forward-looking statements. The reader is cautioned not to place
undue reliance on any forward-looking information.
The forward-looking statements contained in this news release
are made as of the date of this news release and DeepMarkit does
not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of
the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by
securities law.
ENDNOTES:
- "Blackstone Announces $400
Million Investment in Xpansiv, the Leading Global Carbon and
Environmental Commodities Exchange Platform", July 6, 2022, Blackstone, accessed on
August 25, 2022,
https://www.blackstone.com/news/press/blackstone-announces-400-million-investment-in-xpansiv-the-leading-global-carbon-and-environmental-commodities-exchange-platform/
- "BMO to Acquire Calgary-based Radicle Group Inc., a Leader in
Environmental Services", July 20,
2022, BMO, accessed on August
25, 2022,
https://capitalmarkets.bmo.com/en/news-insights/news-releases/sustainable-finance/bmo-acquire-calgary-based-radicle-group-inc-leader-environmental-services/
- "Investing in the Potential of Carbon Credits", CPP
Investments, accessed on August 25,
2022,
https://www.cppinvestments.com/insights-institute/carbon-credits
- "Draft Core Carbon Principles for the Voluntary Carbon Market
released", August 2022,
Norton Rose Fulbright,
accessed on August 25, 2022,
https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en/knowledge/publications/facd1a20/draft-core-carbon-principles-for-the-voluntary-carbon-market-released
- "Carbon-Tech Draws Record VC Funding as Investors Hunt for
Impact", August 17, 2022,
Bloomberg, accessed on August 25,
2022,
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/carbon-tech-draws-record-vc-funding-as-investors-hunt-for-impact-1.1806912
- "The Art of Integrity - Ecosystem Marketplace's State of the
Voluntary Carbon Markets 2022 Q3", August 3,
2022, Ecosystem Marketplace, accessed on September 8, 2022,
https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/publications/state-of-the-voluntary-carbon-markets-2022/
SOURCE DeepMarkit Corp.