When a harm ends, how can we make Amends?

The Ethereum blockchain has transitioned away from the high-emissions proof-of-work algorithm. But to escape the worst impacts of climate change, we must go beyond emissions reductions, and also remove past emissions from the atmosphere.

Amends is three digital sculptures by Kyle McDonald, designed to capture all historical emissions from three major art NFT marketplaces.

Amends went on sale immediately after Ethereum left proof-of-work. Amends is priced to fund complete carbon mitigation.

Handmade glass blocks, filled with artifacts from each removal process, will be revealed a month after launch. These sculptures will be shipped to the owners of the NFTs—if they burn their NFT.

Render of glass block filled with olivine.
Render of glass block filled with carbon-rich soil.
Render of glass block filled with shredded metal.

Amends for OpenSea

  1,007,138.701 tCO2
$ 22,822,200.95
Ξ 12,019.40

Project Vesta is harnessing the power of the oceans to remove excess CO₂ from the atmosphere. They are accelerating the natural process of coastal mineralization by releasing olivine, a naturally occurring green sand, into the waves. This process simultaneously captures CO₂ and de-acidifies the ocean. OpenSea is represented by olivine.

Amends for Rarible

  25,664.216 tCO2
$ 613,304.98
Ξ 323.00

Nori is working with farmers to sink CO₂ directly into the soil. Regenerative practices like cover crop planting and no-till farming can remove over a ton of CO₂ from the atmosphere per acre of land. Rarible is represented by carbon-rich soil.

Amends for Foundation

  26,791.099 tCO2
$ 739,208.31
Ξ 389.31

Tradewater finds and destroys the most harmful greenhouse gases before they leak into the atmosphere. They focus on old refrigerants that are over 10,000 times more potent than CO₂. To date Tradewater has destroyed over five million tons CO₂e, and a recent study estimates there are still nine billion tons CO₂e waiting to be destroyed. Foundation is represented by shredded refrigerant cylinders.

The work is priced at a rate that will pay for a mix of carbon removal and reduction from three different providers, plus overhead from the marketplaces and for our non-profit partner facilitating the auction.

Emissions totals are based on a bottom-up estimate of Ethereum emissions combined with a value-based accounting of all transaction fees associated with each marketplace. This means that the emissions allocated to a marketplace is proportional to its transaction fees.

For full details, please see the agreements and financial breakdown. Contact us for more.

Created By Kyle McDonald
Visual Art Robert Hodgin
Producer Keira Heu-Jwyn Chang
Assistant Producer Lisa Kori
Creative Assistant Olive Kimoto
Sponsored by Gray Area
Offset Partner Project Vesta
Offset Partner Tradewater
Offset Partner Nori
Glasswork Kazuki Takazawa
Logos of all partners.