Can GameFi and Carbon Currencies Reverse Blockchain's Climate Stigma?

NFTs and blockchain technology have developed an unfortunate stigma in some parts of the community for being bad for the environment — but can this perception be changed by incorporating carbon offsets into the NFT game?

GameFi combines NFTs and games. According to data from app tracking firm DappRadar, the daily transaction volume of blockchain games is close to $12 million, coming from more than one million gamers. Toucan Protocol Chief Operating Officer Rob Schmitt believes that these user numbers can be harnessed to the benefit of the environment.

Schmitt told Cointelegraph that using carbon offsets as an element in blockchain games could create “the most planet-friendly system we’ve seen to date.” He envisions a GameFi space that uses carbon offsets as in-game currency, and urges game makers to get creative.

"Games don't have to have full economies based on carbon offsets, but they should be embedded in a meaningful way," he said. There are already game production teams working with Toucan to incorporate carbon offsets into their work, such as Atlantis World, Schmitt said.

"The 'blockchain is destroying the world' narrative is an argument that we can turn around with carbon offsets."

Toucan Protocol tokenizes certified carbon offsets on the Polygon (MATIC) network into Base Carbon Tonnes (BCT).

With gaming studio Space Ape Games becoming carbon neutral in 2019, demand for gaming companies to go green is increasing. Green Geeks reports that game publishers SuperCell, Rovio and Sybo are offsetting their companies' carbon emissions.

The perception that blockchain technology is bad for the environment is often propagated by the traditional gaming industry. Last October, major online game store Steam banned any games with NFTs or cryptocurrencies. In February, game provider Itch.io tweeted that “NFTs are a scam” and useless for anything but “destroying the planet.”

This negative perception exposes a lack of awareness of the carbon emissions associated with different consensus mechanisms. The Polygon network and many other NFT and gaming-focused chains use a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, which means power consumption and environmental impact are extremely limited.

Cointelegraph reported in April that the Polygon team aims to make the network carbon neutral this year. Other blockchain networks that support NFT games with low or neutral carbon footprints include Wax (Wax), Solana (SOL), and BNB Chain (BNB). Ethereum (ETH) is expected to move to PoS in the coming months, with August being the latest estimate for a merger.

While universal climate responsibility is a lofty goal, Schmitt admits that "it's not all about climate action". Plus, gamers don't necessarily have to be aware that their favorite games could be carbon-neutral, since they don't need to do much to make an impact. Schmitt said:

"The vast majority of games won't be about climate action, but only a fraction of that is needed to do a lot of good."

He said climate activism need not be the main focus of game developers, especially if they are already deploying work on climate-friendly blockchains.

"Developers should focus on making fun games first, and they may be able to reach new audiences through carbon offset integration."