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description: AMMs unlock the power of the ReFi ecosystem
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# Carbon Pools

The creation of Carbon Pools is one of the key innovations that is already disrupting the VCM, and will position Web3 as the place to trade carbon.&#x20;

Automated Market Makers (AMMs) are a financial tool unique to Ethereum and DeFi. This new technology is decentralized, highly liquid and is live 24/7. AMMs allow digital assets to be traded without permission and automatically by using liquidity pools instead of a traditional market of buyers and sellers.&#x20;

In the VCM, buyers and sellers offer up different prices for an asset (via OTC deals). When sellers find an offer to be acceptable, they execute a trade and that price becomes the asset’s market price. The asset's market price is not public in the VCM.&#x20;

AMMs on the other hand don't rely on email and closed bidding, and all their data is immediately accessible for users (see [here](https://analytics-polygon.sushi.com/pairs/0x1e67124681b402064cd0abe8ed1b5c79d2e02f64)).&#x20;

C3 will launch 2 pools on SushiSwap. Anyone will be able to sell or buy tokenised carbon tonnes, and they will have immediate access to price discovery, trading volumes and pool liquidity to inform their trading decisions.&#x20;

The C3 pools will trade commoditised groups of tokenised carbon tonnes that contain similar characteristics to all other projects in the same pool.&#x20;

These pools will be Core Carbon Reference Contracts that will function as a reference point for the wider VCM. The ease-of-use of the bridge, and the liquidity and transparency of the pools will serve as an incentive for legacy players to participate.&#x20;

At launch, the following carbon pools went live:&#x20;

* **Universal Base Offset (UBO):** accepting most VCS and GS methodologies for credits issued from 2014 onwards. Blacklisted methodologies will be announced prior to launch.&#x20;
* **Nature Base Offset (NBO):** Nature-based offset index accepting all VCS and GS methodologies characterized as NCS, including REDD+, IFM, and those with VCS or GS certification utilizing CDM-based forestry methodologies such as AR-AM0014. Vintage of 2014 onwards.&#x20;

Read on to find the [specifications and carbon methodologies](../c3-pool-specifications-and-carbon-methodologies/ubo) of our pools.&#x20;

At launch, C3 is permissioned, meaning a governance vote is required to add new carbon pools. Later down the road, we will launch **permissionless carbon pools,** allowing any user to create a carbon pool with their own criteria. &#x20;
