In brief
- Galaxy's new "sustainability program" will focus on environmental, social and governance issues
- The move comes at a time of growing scrutiny about the impact of crypto firms in general.
Galaxy Digital, a crypto trading giant with significant mining operations, announced a "sustainability program" on Thursday that is aimed at improving the company's energy use and social impact.
The fundamental tenets of the program are "Environment, Social and Governance" or ESG—an idea that has gone mainstream at many big corporations, including the investment firm BlackRock.
In a press release describing the initiative, Galaxy said the program would help the company build on its goal of an "over-80% sustainable power mix across mining operations"—a metric it says it achieved late last year.
“Our mission is to drive change through technology to ultimately build a better world, and we view ESG
as an integral component," said Galaxy's flamboyant founder and CEO Michael Novogratz in a statement.
Novogratz added that the company would publish an inaugural sustainability report later this year.
Galaxy's new sustainability program, which offers few concrete details for now, comes at a time when the impact of the crypto industry is being scrutinized by a broad range of regulators and activist groups. This is especially the case when it comes to mining, which is a hot-button issue among politicians as some countries seek to ban it entirely.
In May of last year, Galaxy pushed back against critics' claims that Bitcoin is disastrous for the environment, putting out a report that claimed the legacy financial system uses twice the energy as Bitcoin.
Thursday's initiative suggests the company is trying for a more conciliatory approach at a time when social and environmental criticism of crypto is mounting.
In terms of the social and governance elements of the plan, Galaxy says those will include promoting diversity and inclusion, and ensuring senior executives make "ESG" part of their day-to-day workflow.
Galaxy's announcement is likely to be welcomed by environmental and social activists, and may also put pressure on other big crypto companies to follow suit.