# Bridging Carbon credits traditionally exist in offchain registries, which are often provided by the certifying standard that issues the credits. Using Toucan's bridge, holders of carbon credits can bring them onchain. In doing so, the credits enter a tokenized (i.e. "locked") state in the offchain registry, ensuring that they cannot be claimed more than once. The credits remain in this state until the onchain assets are either detokenized, which "unlocks" them in the source registry, or retired, at which point the tokenized asset and its underlying offchain counterpart cannot be further exchanged or claimed. Benefits of tokenization include: * **Liquidity and Market Efficiency**: Compatible tokenized credits can be deposited into Toucan's carbon pools, which serve as automated brokers for the purchase or sale of carbon credits, available 24/7. * **Enhanced Transparency**: Tokenized credit movements and sales are fully transparent. * **Programmability**: Tokenized carbon credits can be integrated into new software applications for automated climate action. * **Reduced Fragmentation**: Standardizing carbon credits onchain can increase interoperability across fragmented registry systems. * **New Use Cases**: The onchain ecosystem offers new use cases to drive climate action, such as integrating tokenized carbon credits in decentralized finance (DeFi), games, social experiences, NFTs, and more. * **Fractionalization**: Tokenized credits can be exchanged and consumed in sub-tonne amounts. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.toucan.earth/toucan/carbon-bridge.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.