Member Case Study: Arcual
Arcual is a technology company that crafts state-of-the-art digital and blockchain products. Founded in 2022, the company became part of GCC’s first cohort of Active Members last year.
As a business sitting at the intersection of art and technology, Arcual’s environmental responsibility work is twofold: keeping track of its own operational environmental footprint while developing sustainable blockchain technology for the wider art industry.
Arcual grew from a partnership between MCH Group (the parent company of Art Basel), BCGx, and the LUMA Foundation. After years of development, the company officially launched in 2022.
“We’ve been in development for five years,” says Bernandine Bröcker Wieder, CEO of Arcual. “And now Arcual is out of the lab and in the real world, being used by galleries, art fairs, artists and collectors.”
Arcual develops digital infrastructure and technology solutions for artists, galleries and art businesses that enable greater ownership, participation and transparency. These values are central to Arcual’s blockchain technology – but the tech also has environmental benefits.
Blockchain technology can play a range of roles in the art market, including verifying digital transactions, certifying the authenticity of artworks, and securing international payments.
However, blockchain has been criticised for its environmental impacts, which often come from its high energy consumption and generation of electronic waste.
“It’s always one of the first questions that comes up when we have a panel discussion about blockchain and the environment - how can we possibly be using blockchain?” says Bröcker Wieder. “And [criticisms] are definitely true with certain forms of blockchain, but there are lots of different ways you can use, apply and engineer it.”
Much of the energy generated by blockchain technology can be a result of the mechanisms the technology uses - Proof of Work (PoW) or Proof of Stake (PoS). PoW mechanisms, in particular, use vast amounts of energy and electricity because of the computational power required to run calculations.
By building and using their own network, Arcual can control the energy source used to power it. “It’s something we control - we’re not a big behemoth that has a lot of emissions,” says Bröcker Wieder.
As well as offering the art sector a ‘greener’ blockchain technology, as an Active Member of GCC Arcual is also addressing its own operational emissions.
Because its technology has a much smaller footprint than other blockchain technologies, Arcual’s biggest sources of operational emissions come from elsewhere in the business.
“Our technology is not the biggest emissions issue,” says Bröcker Wieder.
Instead, the team is addressing elements including travel habits, office energy use, and materials in order to reduce their own footprint.
As a young company, environmental considerations need to be constantly balanced against the need to connect with artists and galleries across the world.
“Clearly going to art fairs and visiting galleries is a great way for a new company to get to know people around the world, but it also has a huge carbon footprint,” says Bröcker Wieder. “So we’ve been exploring how we can be more sustainable in that way.”
This includes a reduction in travel and an emphasis on travelling by train - Bröcker Wieder took the train to Art Basel last year.
Meanwhile, Arcual’s Green Team spans each of their office spaces - the company has hubs in London, Berlin and Zürich - and is made up of 13 members from different teams within the company.
The Green Team is developing new initiatives, including a look at office energy consumption, and holds ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions for staff who are not part of the team, often in collaboration with the Green Team at Art Basel.
Arcual has benefited from being able to embed environmental responsibility into its practices from the beginning. The team has also found being part of the wider GCC community a useful source of guidance.
“GCC helped us kickstart a lot of things - applying for Active Membership was a great trigger,” Bröcker Wieder says. “We knew we wanted to do this, but sometimes other things get prioritised.”
Now the team continues to think about environmental responsibility in all of its actions.
“We’re really interested in setting up the basis of the business in terms of sustainability,” says Noelia Gamallo, Ecosystem Development Manager and member of the Green Team. “The team is super engaged - it’s part of our personal values, not just the values of the company.”
Bröcker Wieder agrees. “It’s in our DNA, you could say,” she says. “Our commitments involve thinking about sustainability across the board. The Green Team is super important, but it should also go all the way to the top table of the company.”
As a business bringing together the worlds of art and technology, the team are also curious - and optimistic - about the potential for artists to help shape the future of technology and its impact on the environment.
“When it comes to art and technology, artists are able to provide visuals to help people imagine a different way of handling technology that is more in line with nature,” says Bröcker Wieder. “Artists are very aware, and they often provide the insight that helps people see firsthand what is true. So I’m excited to see how artists continue to comment on this.”
From developing a ‘greener’ tech, to centring environmental responsibility in the company’s operations, Arcual is continuing to play an active part in the sector’s environmental transition - and challenging assumptions about technology in the process.
“There’s a lot more to the blockchain space than the headlines,” says Bröcker Wieder.
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Our Member Case Study series highlights stories from across our sector that show the climate action that’s taking place every day. We’d like to thank our featured members for generously sharing their successes, their challenges, and their plans for the future.
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