The ECO coin
When you cut a tree and sell the wood, you will earn money. When you plant a tree, you are creating value, but you won’t get paid. Ecological value is not well articulated in our economy. The ECO coin aims to fix this. It is a new cryptocurrency that positively rewards people with ECOs for their sustainable actions. It is also the first cryptocurrency to be backed by sustainable assets; every ECO coin is backed by one tree. As more ecological assets are added to the system, more ECO coins become available.
The ECO coin aims to reward anyone, anywhere in the world carrying out sustainable actions. Eating meat-free meals, switching to a green energy provider or riding a bike to work can earn you ECOs which you can spend in our new sustainable marketplace to buy ecological experiences, services and goods. ECO coins are stored in special digital wallets accessible through a web browser at first then through a mobile app.
How are sustainable actions verified?
- Sensor Integration – smart sensors that record our daily activities.
- ECO Inspectors – the ECO inspector verifies that sustainable actions are carried out. For this work, they are rewarded with a small amount of ECO coins per verification.
- Certified Vendors – vendors who include ECO coins into their digital systems and web shops.
Example sustainable actions (actions carried out/ECOs Received):
Buy a meat free lunch 0.50E
Ride a bike for to work (1km+) 1.00E
Turn the heating down (below neighbourhood average) 3.50E
Switch to a green energy provider 10.00E
Examples of how ECOs can be spent (experience or service/product ECOs Price):
Ticket to the cinema 12.50E
Entrance to a secret bar and club 20.00E
30 minutes of bike repair 45.00E
50% of a Tesla Roadster 100,000E
To avoid heavy use of energy the ECO coin will use a Proof of Stake consensus model. This will also allow for ECO nodes to be present so as to decentralise governance. What are ECO nodes? Nodes are a way to participate in the network. Anyone can run a node which essentially means that a person is running the entire ECO coin ledger on their device. This could be a mobile phone, laptop or desktop computer. Nodes are not required to earn and spend ECOs but are needed if you want to take part in the decentralised autonomous charity whereby holders of ECO coins will have a vote in the development and direction of the platform and currency.
So why back the ECO coin? ECO coins are always backed by ecological assets. Every ECO coin is backed by one tree. This will create a new gold standard linking every coin in circulation directly to a part of our ecology. Unlike many other cryptocurrencies, using a backing for the currency will also give every coin intrinsic value.
How many ECOs are there? There are currently around three trillion (3,000,000,000,000) trees on the planet. Every ECO coin in circulation will be backed by a tree. It’s possible to then conclude that the theoretical total supply of ECOs is 3 trillion.