BlockMint Technologies Inc. announced that it has released its upgraded, distributed crypto-miner "Minter" which is available to download at getminter.com. The Company introduced a new feature of the Minter browser which allows users to earn carbon credits to offset their carbon footprint. A carbon footprint is basically the total amount of emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) that a person produces from their daily activities, such as driving a car or taking a flight. It is measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) with carbon dioxide being the primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities. GHG emissions are responsible for global warming, which has led to devasting effects on the planet such as extreme weather events, wildfires and rising sea levels. Carbon credits (sometimes also referred to as carbon offsets) are generated by projects that reduce or remove GHG emissions. They allow individuals and businesses to offset their emissions with an equivalent reduction or removal of emissions in a sustainable project somewhere else on the planet. The purchase of carbon credits helps finance emission reduction or removal projects that otherwise might not get developed. There can also be additional environmental and socio-economical benefits associated with these projects, such as job creation, water conservation and protection of biodiversity. The Minter browser allows users to use their spare computing power to mine cryptocurrencies and earn carbon credits to offset their carbon footprint. The browser has a user-friendly, built-in dashboard where a user can control the amount (if any) of computing power on his/her computer that will be used for mining to earn carbon credits. Users bear all mining costs associated with the computing power on their device (electricity costs of operating the user's device) but benefit from receiving carbon credits purchased with the cryptocurrencies mined. BlockMint will earn a margin on the purchase of the carbon credits. The Minter browser also provides a virtual private network (VPN) and ad-blocker. Online privacy is a growing concern which is why many are turning to VPNs to protect their identities while browsing. Minter makes it easy to browse safely and in total anonymity. It is estimated that 25% of internet users used a VPN last month, which typically costs around $10 per month. This upgraded version of Minter has been initially launched for use on desktops and laptops with a Windows operating system. Support for additional operating systems (MacOS, Linux) will be added later this year. This will be followed by versions of Minter for smartphones and tablets. BlockMint intends to focus on expanding accessibility of the Minter browser this year and, as a result, has decided to pause its development work on its other product MintAcess. BlockMint also continues to evaluate the possible acquisition of hardware to mine cryptocurrency in-house and augment the cryptocurrency earned via its distributed Minter software app.