VeChain Partners with 4ocean to Boost Blockchain-Driven Sustainability Efforts Across Land and Sea

VeChain, the world’s leading enterprise blockchain platform, today announced a partnership with sustainability initiative 4ocean to drive ocean conservation efforts through blockchain-enabled campaigns.

This collaboration creates a first-of-its-kind sports sustainability program that will remove the equivalent of 14.4 million single-use plastic water bottles from the ocean in its first year and prepare to implement blockchain technology to drive measurable environmental impact.

The 4ocean partnership includes several key initiatives launching throughout 2025: 

• The removal of 300,000 pounds of plastic and trash from the world’s oceans, rivers, and coastlines
• An 11-month sustainability sweepstakes program running February through December 2025
• Lay the groundwork for implementing VeChain’s blockchain technology to enhance 4ocean’s tracking and verification systems
• Development of exclusive 4ocean x VeChain merchandise to support ocean cleanup efforts

To mark the start of the 11-month new partnership, 4ocean and VeChain will partner with the UFC Foundation for a high-profile beach cleanup event in Miami, showcasing the initiative’s real-world impact and launching broader initiatives to engage the global crypto community in ocean conservation.

“This partnership represents a perfect alignment of mission and technology,” said Sunny Lu, CEO and Founder of VeChain. “By combining 4ocean’s inspiring track record in ocean conservation with VeChain’s blockchain capabilities, we’re creating new ways for people to get involved in and verify the impact of some of the world’s most significant environmental cleanup efforts.”

The flagship event will leverage an application running on VeChainThor called Cleanify, part of the VeBetter ecosystem. VeChain’s blockchain is one of the world’s most energy-efficient layer-1 networks, consuming just 0.04% of the energy of comparable platforms. The application tracks and validates environmental impact while incentivizing participation through rewards.

“When purpose drives action, real change happens,” said Alex Schulze, CEO and Co-founder of 4ocean. “Through our partnership with VeChain, we’re removing 300,000 pounds of plastic from the ocean — that’s the equivalent of 14.4 million plastic water bottles. We’re also committed to exploring blockchain technology to enhance our tracking and verification systems, providing greater transparency into our cleanup operations. Together, we’re creating new opportunities to engage communities in ocean conservation and create a more sustainable ocean for future generations.”

Ocean pollution is at record highs, with over 440 million pounds of trash entering waterways each year. To date, 4ocean has collected more than 40 million pounds of trash and plastic from the world’s ocean, rivers, and coastlines—equivalent to roughly 9% of the annual total.