What is CO2IN¶
A CO2IN is a voluntary carbon credit backed by a real EU emission allowance. Buying one takes a slice of a real allowance out of the market — which is what makes it more than a promise.
What am I actually buying?¶
A CO2IN credit, backed by a real EU emission allowance that CO2IN holds.
The allowance itself never changes hands. It stays in CO2IN's account, where it cannot be transferred to you or surrendered by anyone — and that is the point rather than a limitation, because an allowance only keeps a tonne of emissions off the market for as long as it sits there unused. What you own is the credit it backs.
Under the EU Emissions Trading System, every major polluter must hold one allowance for every tonne of greenhouse gas it emits. Those allowances are finite and shrinking. CO2IN buys them on that market and holds them, and each CO2IN you own is backed by a fraction of one.
You are not buying a promise that someone will plant a tree, or a claim about emissions avoided somewhere. You are buying a credit backed by a permit to pollute that nobody can now use.
How much CO2 does one CO2IN represent?¶
10 kg of CO2e.
One EU allowance covers one tonne, and CO2IN issues 100 CO2IN against each one — a ratio of 1 emission allowance to 100 CO2IN.
So 100 CO2IN corresponds to one tonne of CO2e.
What backs the CO2IN I hold?¶
Allowances held in a dedicated account, and CO2IN deliberately holds more allowances than there are credits in circulation.
Coverage is reconciled regularly — at least weekly, and more often when the market is active. The heads of regulation, trading and back office independently verify that the account still covers every CO2IN in existence, and allowances are moved to maintain the surplus.
What happens when I buy or sell?¶
CO2IN credits are created when you buy them and cease to exist when you sell them back.
What limits how much you can buy is not the credits, though — it is the allowances CO2IN holds. Every credit must be covered by one, so the amount available at any moment is bounded by current holdings, and outside market hours CO2IN cannot buy more allowances. See why availability changes.
Are my transactions recorded?¶
Every one of them, on a private ledger operated for CO2IN by Tatum. Once a transaction is written it cannot be altered or removed.
That is what makes the whole system checkable: the credits in circulation at any moment can be compared against the emission allowances actually held, and the history behind that comparison cannot be quietly rewritten. It is the basis of the annual audit.
The ledger is operated by Tatum, which is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified and SOC 2 compliant.
Your transactions are not publicly visible. The ledger is private, so the record is auditable without being exposed.
Is CO2IN a cryptocurrency?¶
No — and the ledger above is exactly why the question comes up, so it is worth being precise.
CO2IN's ledger is a private record kept for CO2IN. There is no public chain, no independent nodes agreeing on what is true, no mining, and no trading on crypto exchanges. What it gives you is an unalterable audit trail, not a decentralised one.
That distinction is not just presentational. It is why CO2IN falls outside the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation — see is CO2IN covered by MiCA.
And the value never came from the ledger in any case. It comes from the emission allowance behind every credit.
What can I do with CO2IN once I hold it?¶
Four things:
- Hold it — the allowance stays out of the market for as long as you do
- Sell it back, if you no longer need it
- Pay with it — to another person, or at a participating merchant
- Retire it to offset emissions and receive a certificate
Who is behind CO2IN?¶
The CO2IN, a.s., based at Pobřežní 620/3, Karlín, 186 00 Prague 8, Czechia.
The idea dates from 2019, development began in 2020, and the service launched publicly the following year. The credits were certified in June 2023 — see certification.