Xpansiv’s CEO, Joe Madden, is ahead of the curve. He and his colleagues announced the launch of a new benchmark carbon offset product at the end of August, and trading in the product — called the Global Emissions Offset or GEO — began this month. In effect, the GEO makes what has been a bespoke market into a scalable, standardized market based on assets with which participants are already comfortable and knowledgeable. Not only is the GEO a well-understood asset, it also transacts on an open, electronic trading platform that enables buyers and sellers to understand up front the pricing environment in which they are transacting. This is the dictionary definition of a fair, transparent market.