Muri bei Bern has introduced BIDI, a digital voucher on the Hedera network designed to reward and verify local biodiversity efforts.
The Municipality of Muri bei Bern in the Canton of Bern has launched a digital biodiversity voucher built on the Hedera distributed ledger technology (DLT) network.
Known as BIDI, or BIODIVERSITÄTS-GUTSCHEINE, the initiative is a collaboration between The Hashgraph Group, Swisscoast, and digital transformation firm Apps with Love. It represents the first live municipal blockchain project of its kind in Switzerland.
The project follows the 2024 Biodiversitäts-Initiative referendum, which required Swiss municipalities to deliver specific biodiversity outcomes. BIDI is designed to provide the verification and settlement infrastructure needed to meet these requirements.
The instrument is an on-chain voucher pegged 1:1 to the Swiss franc. It rewards community volunteers for nature conservation work, including meadow restoration, hedge laying, and wetland maintenance.
Residents can redeem the digital vouchers at participating local businesses and service providers. The system replaces a paper-based voucher programme that the municipality operated for eight years.
By digitising the process, the project aims to create a verifiable record of ecological action while supporting the local economy. Its technical framework is intended to serve as a template for other municipalities seeking to meet national biodiversity mandates.
BIDI uses HCHF, a private digital Swiss franc developed by Swisscoast on the Hedera network. Hedera was selected for the project because of its energy efficiency and reported carbon-negative footprint, achieved through the purchase of carbon offsets.
Toni Caradonna, President of Swisscoast AG, said: “For us, technologies such as DLT are the cornerstone not only of innovation, but also of conservation. We hope to expand the BIDI voucher to more municipalities, cities, and countries across Europe.”
Stefan Deiss, CEO and Co-Founder of The Hashgraph Group, added: “Public-sector instruments such as vouchers, claims, and reporting tokens will become verifiable, and BIDI demonstrates DLT credibility through provenance – not novelty.”
Stephan Klaus, CEO of Apps with Love, said: “As a firm dedicated to digital transformation, we are excited to see how DLT can take a trusted, established community instrument like the biodiversity voucher and make it more efficient, verifiable, and environmentally sound.”
Stay updated on crypto and AI by following our socials.
