The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has officially launched a statewide digital marketplace for environmental credits, named SWaN (Stream, Wetland, and Nutrient credits), built on the Hedera blockchain. Developed in partnership with WaterLedger, the platform modernizes the trading of compensatory mitigation credits required under Virginia's "no net loss" policy for wetlands and streams.
The system enables real-time trading, providing live pricing, availability, and direct transaction capabilities across more than 600 mitigation banks and in-lieu fee sites. This introduces transparency and traceability previously absent from legacy systems, aiming to reduce project delays and uncertainty for developers and credit providers. The platform also unifies Virginia's nutrient credit trading program, creating a single digital system for multiple environmental markets.
This contract positions WaterLedger at the forefront of next-generation environmental digital public infrastructure (DPI). The launch underscores a growing trend of state governments utilizing distributed ledger technology for regulated public functions, following similar initiatives like Wyoming's state-backed stablecoin on Hedera.
The Hedera network continues to expand into regulated use cases across sectors. Recent developments include supporting PharmaTrace for pharmaceutical supply chains, integrating with Ownera for tokenized real-world asset access, and exploring partnerships in the defense sector with Neuron and potentially NATO.
Following the announcement, HBAR's price showed signs of recovery, trading up approximately 3% at $0.1135.
