Xpansiv Empowers Paradigm Shift in Global Commodities with Groundbreaking Trade of Differentiated Natural Gas

SYDNEY, SAN FRANCISCO, NEW YORK – 23 October 2019 — Xpansiv, a data-driven commodity exchange, today announced the first exchange transaction of an energy product valued according to factors like methane emissions and water utilization.

In this first-of-its-kind trade, sustainability solutions provider South Pole purchased responsible natural gas certificates from wells operated by Carbon Creek Energy and certified by Independent Energy Standards Corporation (IES). The unique product purchased by South Pole is IES-rated TrustWell™ Responsible Natural Gas (Gold), proving that production operations have met a high standard of environmental responsibility. The trade was executed on CBL Markets, an Xpansiv company and leading energy and environmental commodity exchange.

“We’re applying principles from the digital migration of industries like music and retail to the commodity sector,” said Xpansiv Chief Product Officer Sam Teplitsky. “Buyers, lenders, and shareholders are all demanding more information, and Xpansiv is the platform and marketplace to meet that demand.”

To ensure data and market integrity, Xpansiv transformed the production data into Digital Feedstock™, a standardized digital format that combines data science, cryptography, and distributed-ledger technologies to securely track and transfer source data. This historic partnership enables certified production data to be bought, sold, and transferred—bundled or unbundled from the physical commodity—in a transparent Digital Commodity Ecosystem™, with no risk to counterparties.

As a result, producers will have access to new revenue streams, retailers will be able to differentiate their offerings, lenders and insurers will be able to more accurately assess risk, and consumers will be able to exercise choice.

“Xpansiv provides a powerful platform for scaling the market for TrustWell Responsible Gas in a way that ensures integrity,” said IES CEO Jory Caulkins. “The implications of this first trade are extraordinary.”

“The Xpansiv platform is designed for a new asset class: data,” said Xpansiv CEO Joe Madden. “Xpansiv ingests data sourced from each commodity’s lifecycle and converts it into tradable products—digital assets linked to source data. You can’t value what you can’t measure, and the market can now value Intelligent Commodities™ based on factors that were previously invisible.”

Demand is exploding for more information about the food, energy, and raw materials we consume. In fact, it’s growing faster than traditional markets can adapt. “That’s the power of our platform,” Teplitsky said. “Xpansiv provides a scalable path to transparency by leveraging existing data and technology.”

For the first time, it’s possible to map, buy, and sell unique, permanently traceable attributes. “This transaction represents an important step in creating transparency for new, more responsibly produced energy solutions,” said South Pole CEO and co-founder Renat Heuberger. “For our clients, it means having the opportunity to trace the origin of their power and guarantee the environmental integrity of their claims.”

TrustWell certified natural gas is just the first product available; the Xpansiv platform enables a limitless range of offerings to support the market, wherever it leads. “This is the beginning of a new wave of market activity based on valuing impact,” Teplitsky said. “We’re developing a host of Digital Feedstock–based products, across multiple asset classes, to meet rising demand for differentiated commodities.”

“Commodity markets were designed more than a century ago for a resource-rich, data-poor world,” Madden concluded. “Today’s world is rich in data, but resource-constrained. That’s the world Xpansiv is designed to serve, and today’s trade was just a natural step in the evolution of global markets.”

About Xpansiv
Xpansiv is the world’s first commodity exchange built for a new asset class: data. We bring transparency to the market by recording real-world characteristics in an immutable profile, empowering informed decision-making and commodity differentiation. As a result, commodities can be valued based on vital information that was invisible—until now. xpansiv.com

About Independent Energy Standards Corp (IES)
IES is the market-leading independent ratings and analytics provider for risk and responsibility in the oil & gas industry. The company combines deep technical expertise with market mechanisms to economically reward responsible actors. IES.co

About South Pole
South Pole is a leading provider of global sustainability solutions. For more than a decade, South Pole has worked with a wide range of public, private, and civil-sector organizations to accelerate the transition to a climate-smart society. South Pole has mobilized climate finance to over 700 projects in emissions reductions, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable land-use. SouthPole.com

About Carbon Creek
Carbon Creek Energy is a leader in producing responsibly-sourced natural gas. The company’s wells produce natural gas from a naturally fractured coal seam, meaning the wells do not require fracture stimulation to produce environmentally-responsible natural gas. Carbon-Creek.com

Contact: Rob Dalton, Xpansiv VP Marketing & Communications—rdalton@xpansiv.com