What is GreenTrust & the GNT Token? – Moralis Academy

The idea of an eco-friendly cryptocurrency is something that has been around for some time now. GreenTrust is a sustainable decentralized finance (SDeFi) protocol operating on Binance Smart Chain (BSC). It uses sustainable energy to mine the native GNT token. Furthermore, holders of the GNT token can contribute to reforestation by simply holding and transacting with the token. Also, the project takes part in several ecological initiatives and programs focusing on saving the environment. Moreover, GreenTrust is hosting the TreeTrust initiative to increase brand awareness alongside planting more trees around the world. 

In this article, we’re going to explore the GreenTrust sustainable decentralized finance (SDeFi) protocol. Also, we’ll discuss the GNT token and what makes it an eco-friendly cryptocurrency. Plus, we’ll look at the Treetrust initiative, the GreenTrust community reach strategy, and the use of sustainable energy in the blockchain industry.

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What is GreenTrust?

GreenTrust is a “sustainable decentralized finance (SDeFi) application” that facilitates token swaps and enables users to participate in liquidity mining. Powered by the native GreenTrust token (GNT), an eco-friendly cryptocurrency, GreenTrust is aligning incentives of stakeholders, developers, and businesses to create a “greener economy”. Launched on Binance Smart Chain (BSC), GreenTrust is a highly scalable protocol with high throughput that uses a Proof-of-Stake (PoS)-based consensus mechanism. 

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Furthermore, the forthcoming GreenTrust application will use zero-knowledge proofs to provide a decentralized data marketplace to aid global communications regarding ecological and social issues such as climate change, carbon emissions, and biodiversity. 

Thanks to the integration of decentralized exchanges (DEXs) such as ApeSwap, users can stake and farm the GNT token and earn fees in the process. Plus, GNT token holders can trade with 0% fees. GreenTrust centers itself around reforestation and eco-friendly cryptocurrency mining solutions that use renewable energy. Moreover, GreenTrust promises to reinvest all profits into initiatives to help the world become carbon-neutral by 2050.

Eco-Friendly Cryptocurrency

GreenTrust aims to improve the efficiency of computational industries and reduce the environmental impact of the blockchain ecosystem. By developing concepts and protocols in partnership with like-minded projects, GreenTrust is striving to reduce carbon emissions in areas such as prediction markets, decentralized data storage, decentralized finance (DeFi), and cryptocurrency mining. Not only does this serve to benefit the planet, but it can also save businesses and individuals time and money by reducing the unnecessary wasting of resources.

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Furthermore, the ecological nature of the GNT token aligns with GreenTrust’s long-term goal of creating incentives to encourage greener cryptocurrency mining with less pollution and lower carbon emissions. Plus, anyone can easily contribute to the GreenTrust vision by trading and holding the GNT token.

Binance Smart Chain (BSC)

Binance Smart Chain (BSC) is one of the top three largest smart contract-enabled blockchains in the crypto industry. As a hard fork of Go Ethereum (Geth), BSC shares a similar code construct to the leading smart contract-enabled blockchain, Ethereum. Moreover, cryptocurrency tokens and decentralized applications (dApps) that operate on BSC are fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

Blog Binance Smart Chain (BSC)

Since its launch in 2017, the Ethereum blockchain has become to host over 2,800 decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. However, Binance Smart Chain (BSC) was launched in August 2020 and is already seeing more than 810 DeFi protocols operating on the chain in less than a year since going live. Furthermore, the peak number of active addresses on BSC is more than double that of Ethereum. Ethereum’s all-time-high number of active crypto wallet addresses is 799,580 addresses on May 9, 2021. BSC boasts a record of 2,105,367 addresses achieved on June 7, 2021. 

Binance Smart Chain (BSC) has a block time approximately 4x faster than Ethereum. By proxy, gas fees are much lower, offering traders much cheaper transactions when trading. This is primarily due to the consensus model used by BSC. Ethereum initially used a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm. PoW requires tremendous amounts of energy for miners to compete to solve mathematical equations (we discuss this in more detail further on). BSC uses a novel Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA) consensus. PoSA implements a combination of the Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) and Proof-of-Authority (PoA) consensus models, which require far less computational power and energy to operate. 

Although Binance Smart Chain (BSC) may not be as eco-friendly as other smaller blockchains (e.g., NANO and XRP), it hosts the second-largest number of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. Plus, BSC is a crucial influencer of energy-efficient blockchain development. 

GreenTrust Token (GNT)

The native GreenTrust Token (GNT) is a BEP-20 token that facilitates multiple forms of network participation. Primarily, the GNT token utility is for staking, transacting, and governance. As the GreenTrust protocol uses a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus model, GNT token holders can stake tokens to secure the network. By staking the GNT token, users can earn block rewards and transaction fees. Also, the GNT token pays for data storage fees and entitles holders to on-chain governance rights.  

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Also, holders can use the GNT token to participate in liquidity pools to earn rewards as a way of making a passive income with crypto. Using different third-party platforms, users can lock up their GNT tokens for a period of their choice. Moreover, there is no holding time or cooldown period after un-staking the tokens. 

Simply by holding and transacting with GNT tokens, users are helping the environment. As traders transact, they pay a small fee to the platform. This fee is then distributed between network participants, and the profits are reinvested into carbon-neutral-focused initiatives.

In the future, we can expect to see support for the GNT token by both Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and the Ethereum blockchain. By facilitating enhanced interoperability, the GNT token will provide a cross-chain transaction solution that can be used across a wide range of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. 

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Community Reach Strategy

GreenTrust is growing its brand through a global community reach strategy. Moreover, GreenTrust is using a hybrid online and offline marketing approach to spread its message. Furthermore, the GreenTrust founding team hosts weekly online networking sessions to grow its community of partners and investors.

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GreenTrust has various community strategic workstreams covering social channels, content, and offline marketing. Largely, the GreenTrust team is focusing on the development of social media marketing. The aim is to create a global community spreading hype around the GreenTrust brand. This is mainly targeting Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, and Reddit initially. Other online marketing campaigns include direct email engagement with a GreenTrust mailing list and newsletter, with over 25,000 subscribers! Also, GreenTrust plans to cooperate with key industry and opinion leaders to develop online education and awareness around the brand.

Furthermore, offline community reach strategies include live events held across different countries. GreenTrust plans to host educational event initiatives in its local headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. Also, GreenTrust aims to host events in Italy (Rome/Milan) and the United Kingdom (London) too!

At the time of writing, GreenTrust has 42 country-specific communities across the globe. Each community has a selection of local ambassadors. Ambassadors are responsible for managing various media outlets, community channels and creating an engaging online presence in their local language. Additionally, GreenTrust aims to increase this to 60 different country-specific communities by the end of 2021.

The GNT token holder community has contacted several sustainable wildlife non-profit organizations to become charitable partners with GreenTrust. The project is currently in the process of choosing its primary charitable partner.

TreeTrust Initiative

The TreeTrust initiative is now live and available for all to participate! As part of the community reach strategy, Treetrust is incentivizing people to film themselves planting a tree. Also, the video must feature the GreenTrust logo in its video, alongside tagging its Twitter account (@GNT_token) and following the GreenTrust profile.

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The TreeTrust initiative is offering a $4,000 giveaway, with prizes for over 30 contributors. For the “best and coolest videos”, there are two first-place prizes worth $1,000 each. Then, the ten contributors with the highest number of views, likes, and retweets will win $200 each. Also, GreenTrust is offering a further 20 lucky winners $50 who will be randomly chosen from the most-liked videos. More information surrounding participation is available through the GreenTrust official Telegram account. 

Videos of participants and details about the TreeTrust initiative are available at www.greentrusttoken.com/treetrust. The TreeTrust initiative goes beyond spreading global awareness of the GreenTrust and GNT token. The campaign is helping to raise awareness of eco-friendly cultures and initiatives while inspiring future generations to care for the planet. 

Why is Sustainable Decentralized Finance (SDeFi) Important?

The concept of sustainable decentralized finance (SDeFi) may seem unrealistic to some. After all, the philosophy of financial freedom and decentralization that attracted many people to Bitcoin is not a priority to people looking to earn the highest yields on the latest meme token. However, as the mass adoption of blockchain technology continues, the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining has raised some concerns.

Blog Sustainable decentralized finance (SDeFi)

With this in mind, the blockchain industry is looking to reduce the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining. An example of this is the growth of the Bitcoin Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchain. Initially, the network was small enough that the energy usage for mining Bitcoin was relatively small. For years, it was possible to mine cryptocurrency with a cheap laptop without using lots of electricity. 

Now though, the machines required to mine Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are often expensive and consume a great deal of electricity. Furthermore, as PoW blockchains increase in size, the hardware and electricity required often become exponentially more expensive. Not only is this a detriment to the environment, but it also raises concerns about decentralization when only a handful of companies or high-net-worth individuals can afford to participate. Many newer crypto projects are opting for Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanisms to reduce costs and electricity usage. Plus, PoS tends to have a lower barrier to entry as it generally requires less computational power than PoW-based protocols.

For cryptocurrency to truly gain mass adoption, it must be accessible to everyone. Financial freedom can be achieved, regardless of geography, wealth, religion, or social standing, if the barrier to entry is low and the environmental impact is minimized. Banking the unbanked may be closer to a reality than it has ever been. However, if financial freedom becomes exponentially more expensive, it cannot be achieved equitably on a global scale.

What is GreenTrust & the GNT Token? Summary

GreenTrust is at the forefront of sustainable decentralized finance (SDeFi). Also, the GNT token has attracted attention for being an eco-friendly cryptocurrency. Furthermore, with initiatives such as Treetrust and the global community reach strategy, GreenTrust uses blockchain and cryptocurrency to assist in reforestation and other ecological issues. The TreeTrust initiative is currently live with no published end date. It doesn’t cost anything to enter, plus it helps the environment and gives participants the chance of winning up to $1,000 in prizes.

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The GreenTrust community spreads far across the globe with a push for offline marketing activities, creating a more personal engagement. Furthermore, GreenTrust uses Binance Smart Chain (BSC) on a foundational level, arguably the most active and energy-efficient blockchain in existence at present. To achieve global adoption of decentralized finance (DeFi), alongside the user-friendly aspects of design, projects and blockchains must also consider the environmental impact of their operations. As such, GreenTrust is spearheading the sustainable decentralized finance (SDeFi) and eco-friendly cryptocurrency movement.

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