$1 to $8: First ITMO Registry Credits Trade Ahead of the CDM Registry Shutdown

The first credits issued in the ITMO Registry, a new registry that intends to list units under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, are being offered as low as $1, according to Carbon Pulse. The credits come from two Indonesian methane capture projects migrated from the UN Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Registry, and their listing gives legacy CDM supply a working market just as the UN registry prepares to shut down. For buyers, this is the first live pricing signal for Article 6 adjacent units; for developers, it is the first demonstration of an exit route for stranded CDM projects.

What Was Issued and Listed

The first credits issued in the ITMO Registry were listed overnight on Carbon Trade eXchange (CTX), according to the National Law Review, which carried the announcement dated 23 October 2026. The underlying projects are two Indonesian methane capture projects previously registered to be issued through the UN CDM Registry. They have been migrated and converted, with credits issued as voluntary Global Carbon Credits.

One detail matters for the accounting. According to the National Law Review, these emission reductions had never been issued as CERs in the CDM Registry, so no CERs had to be cancelled as part of the conversion. The units were issued directly in the ITMO Registry rather than transferred as existing CERs, which avoids the cancellation step that other CDM migrations require.

Pricing: $1 to $8 by Vintage

The credits were issued with vintages from 2013 to 2020 and then listed on CTX for exchange trading, according to the CTX announcement. Pricing is vintage based: $8.00 for the 2020 vintage, stepping down to $1.00 for the 2013 vintage.

That spread is the first visible price curve for this class of unit. Older vintages carry the lowest prices, consistent with how legacy credits trade elsewhere, but the absolute levels, starting at $1, set a low entry point for voluntary buyers and a reference for what converted CDM supply is worth without compliance eligibility.

The CDM Shutdown Behind the Move

The timing is driven by hard deadlines at the UNFCCC. The cancellation service at the CDM Registry will cease on 25 November 2026, and the registry ends all transactions on 31 December 2026, according to the National Law Review. Project owners that do not move their units before those dates risk losing them.

CTX estimates that up to 2 billion CERs from more than 8,000 CDM projects globally face being stranded, cancelled or losing value if they are not moved in time, according to the announcement. That figure comes from the exchange itself and reflects the scale of the migration problem the new registry is positioning to absorb.

“As the CDM Registry winds down and the new Article 6.4 registry is still ‘coming soon’, project owners need somewhere to go now,” said Wayne Sharpe, quoted in the press release.

The Article 6.2 Upgrade Path

The credits are voluntary Global Carbon Credits today, but they are not necessarily voluntary forever. Where they meet the requirements, including authorisation by the host country, they can be upgraded, now or later, to Article 6.2 ITMOs, the Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes that can count toward national climate targets, according to the National Law Review.

That optionality is the core of the structure. Host-country authorisation remains the gating condition, and no authorisation for these Indonesian units is reported. Buyers should treat the Article 6.2 label as a conditional pathway, not a current attribute, and price accordingly.

Source: CarbonMeld — independent carbon credit market intelligence. Document-based quality scores and assessments across all major registries: carbonmeld.com

Implications for Buyers, Developers and Investors

For buyers, the $1 to $8 curve marks legacy methane capture supply entering the market at low cost. These are voluntary units until authorisation changes their status, so any purchase decision should separate the voluntary use case from the speculative value of a future ITMO upgrade.

For developers, the listing demonstrates a functioning migration route from the CDM to a private registry with exchange trading. The fact that the units had never been issued as CERs simplified the conversion, which suggests projects in the same position are the easiest candidates to move before the November and December deadlines.

For investors, CTX’s estimate of up to 2 billion CERs at risk defines the potential pipeline. Whether that volume migrates, and at what prices, will determine whether the ITMO Registry becomes a meaningful venue or a resting place for low value vintages.

What to Watch

• Whether Indonesia or other host countries authorise converted units for Article 6.2, turning voluntary credits into ITMOs.
• How many of the 8,000 plus CDM projects migrate before the 25 November and 31 December 2026 deadlines.
• Secondary trading on CTX and whether the $1 to $8 vintage curve holds once more supply arrives.
• The launch of the UN’s Article 6.4 registry and how private registries position against it.

This is a first issuance built on a press release and a short market report. The pricing is real and the deadlines are fixed, but the integrity and authorisation questions that would make these units compliance grade are still open.