CDRT: Carbon Removal Token
CDRT is the only asset NetZero Chain creates, and it is created only when a tonne of CO₂ has actually been removed and placed in custody.
The rules
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| 1 CDRT = 1 tonne | Backed one-to-one by carbon dioxide removal credits in a Northern Trust Carbon Ecosystem vault account held by Net Zero Company AB. |
| Mint only after custody | Credits must be moved into the vault before the corresponding CDRT is minted. Each mint event carries the vault deposit reference. |
| Burn = retire | Burning CDRT emits a retirement request. The same quantity of credits is retired in the vault the same or next business day. |
| No transfer fee | CDRT is a plain ERC-20 so it works in every DEX, lending protocol and wallet (fee-on-transfer tokens are effectively banned from DeFi; that lesson comes from PAXG). |
| Daily NAV | Tonnes in vault vs CDRT outstanding published daily to an on-chain oracle; quarterly independent audit. |
| Removals only | Reforestation, biochar, enhanced weathering, direct air capture, blue carbon, soil carbon under Verra VCS, Gold Standard, Puro.earth, CAR or ACR. No avoidance credits. |
Where CDRT comes from
The Carbon Fund receives 50% of every fee. When it spends, 60% buys removal credits on the Northern Trust Carbon Platform, which are moved into the vault and minted as CDRT. 25% provides CDRT liquidity so the token can be traded. 15% buys CDRT on the open market and burns it, retiring tonnes permanently.
Nobody needs to buy CDRT for the chain to remove carbon. The chain is the buyer. CDRT exists so that the removals are visible, transferable and retirable by anyone.
Price behaviour
CDRT is not pegged. Its floor is the cost of the removals behind it: if CDRT trades below the value of a tonne, anyone can buy it and burn it for a retirement worth more, which pushes the price back. Above the floor it follows the carbon removal market, which regulation (EU CBAM, CSRD, corporate net-zero deadlines) is pushing upward. "Downside protected by arbitrage, upside from real demand" is the whole design; there is no reflexive token loop.
Compliance language
Per the custody agreement, CDRT is a product sold by Net Zero Company AB, meant to be consumed (retired), not an investment. Token holders are buyers, not investors. In the event of the company's insolvency, tokens may be worthless and credits may be sold to third parties. This language appears in every interface that touches CDRT, including this one.
Reading it on-chain
The contract exposes totalSupply() (tonnes in custody), totalMinted()
(lifetime tonnes tokenised) and totalRetired() (tonnes retired through
burns). The Explorer shows all three in its Climate impact
panel once the contract is deployed.
On the testnet
CDRT is not deployed on the testnet yet (phase 4). When it is, it will be a plain ERC-20 with a test minter role and no vault linkage, so that integrations can be built; it will represent nothing. The explorer's Climate impact panel shows "—" for the CDRT figures until then.