ReFi Roundup #44: Grants Protocol, Quadratic UNICEF and Blocks.Garden ◾️🌱

GM everyone, March Zheng here 👋 - a partner at crypto-focused hedge fund Bizantine Capital.  We've evolved our focus from Bitcoin to multi-chain to DeFi, and now we're diving head first into ReFi! We have a strong conviction in the opportunities ReFi provides to help save our Earth 🌎🌍🌏. With that said, lets dive into whats been going down this week...

Gitcoin in the Midst of Major Protocol Upgrade ⤴

Gitcoin has been leading the way in providing funding for public goods, with big support for the ReFi ecosystem. Since its launch in November 2017, they have facilitated the raise over $72.4m for over 11 thousand unique projects, leveraging a unique quadratic funding mechanism to create a more democratic and community-powered allocation system.

You can read more about Gitcoin in the ReFi DAO deep dive and podcast.

Now Gitcoin is in the midst of its biggest upgrade yet, the hotly awaited Grants Protocol (currently in closed beta) is due to launch in early 2023. This will see the centralized grants platform be replaced by an open protocol for anyone to use, from anywhere in the world, connecting resources, contributors, and ecosystems in the most optimal way possible. Hugely exciting! And we are even starting to see interest and adoption from those beyond the bubble of Web3...

Beyond Web3! 🦾

Between December 9-16, 2022, Gitcoin Grants will facilitate a Quadratic Funding grants round with UNICEF!  This is exciting partnership 🤝  is the first of 5 test rounds before the Gitcoin Protocol is fully launched!

UNICEF is an agency of the United Nations and is one of the world's foremost authorities on providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. Its total income in 2020 was $7.2 billion of which $5.45 billion came from the public sector and a 36-member executive board governs the agency and play a key role in the allocation of funding. I wonder if there was a way to make this process more democratic! 🤔 😉    

This December, with the UNICEF & Gitcoin partnership, individuals and fund entities will have a chance to get in involved and have their say in supporting a select group of 10 impact-focused projects from around the world. Excitingly, all 10 of the UNICEF Round grantees are builders using blockchain or AI technologies for social good projects in sectors covering Financial Inclusion, Public Health, Environment, and Education/Literacy Center. For example:

• 💸 Kenya's Kotani Pay, Nepal's Rumsan, Treejer, and Argentina's Xcapit (Financial Inclusion)
• 🏥 Phillipines' Cirrolytix and India's StaTwig (Public Health)
• 🌱 Chile's Rentadrone and Brazil's Bioverse Labs (Environment)
• 💬 Mexico's Pixframe Studios and Cambodia's Chatterbox (Education/Literacy).  

This is also part of UNICEF's Office of Innovation wider explorations into blockchain technology as a mechanism to help address resource allocation problems, provide greater efficiencies in public bureaucracies, and amplify and disrupt traditional systems that may be broken.

There will be a UNICEF AMA (twitter Space) on (TU 12/6 11a PST - subject to change) to welcome the 10 grantees.  The AMA will be hosted by Akeem Khan and Ben West, as well as UNICEF team members potentially joining in!  Lets make sure to show up as a community and demonstrate our full-fledged support! You can also read more about this exciting partnership below! 👇

What about my project!? 🙏

While the Gitcoin Protocol upgrade is hugely exciting, with GR16 being pushed to January next year and with a reduced scope, many projects are wondering how they are going to stay afloat until the new year!

Look no further. Monty and Akshay Aditya, have just posted the first ReFi Radar article - Top 10 Grant Programs for ReFi in Q4 2022! If you havn't already, go check it out!👇

P.S. Due to popular demand, submissions for the $1M Future Quest Grant Pool have been extended till December 7th! Go apply now before it is too late!

Make Ethereum Green! ✅

A bonus story for you this week!

As highlighted by Will Masters in Refi Roundup #43,  leading technological companies at COP27  are forming a consortium (19+ companies and growing) to offset Ethereum's previous carbon emissions in the POW model.  Best part is, anyone can join this initiative.  To see it at the macro level for cryptocurrencies within COP27 is extraordinary.

Further to this, a cool new project called Blocks Garden is formulating EthereumPOW into 15 million blocks (block 15,537,393 was when the merge happened!). Each of these denoted blocks needs to be decarbonized and participants will be able to mint NFTs to validate their participation.  Interested parties and individuals can sign the pledge here! Lets show up and turn Ethereum into a fully fledged green machine!

State of the Refi Nation | ReFiPodcast S2E18 🌤

John Ellison is joined by Rez, co-founder of Solid World DAO and co-host of This Week in ReFi Podcast. Dive in to reflect on the last year in the world of ReFi and the Cambrian explosion of innovation at the intersection of climate and Web3...

Other 🔥 Podcasts on our Radar:

• Planet of the Klimates: Klimaversary with Asfi & core dev Archimedes 🏛️
• My Climate Journey: The Intersection of Diversity, Inclusion and Climate with Taj Eldrige ⭕️
• All About Impact DAOs #18: Proof of Humanity explained with Federico, Founder Kleros 💁‍♀️
• A16z Podcast: The Economics of Carbon Removal with Nan Ransohoff 🌪️ (part 1 of a 3-part series on carbon removal!)
• Brave New Earth S1E2: Launch to exit in 18 months $$$...how to build & invest in Climate-Tech with Frank Meehan 🔥

Cosmos is going Carbon Neutral! 🎉

The Cosmos interchain foundation funds and advances the creation of an interoperable, sustainable, and community-owned decentralized ecosystem.  Cosmos has begun its process of going net zero in carbon emission.  Learn more about #CosmosZERO and join their Impact Quest Now!

Return Protocol is Live! 🎉

Through Return Protocol, anyone can take simplified carbon action --> offset your historic blockchain emissions, set perpetual action visa depositing USDC and make direct contributions... Go check them out here and set-up your soul-bound impact profile! 👇

ImpactDAO Book is here! 🎉

A huge congrats to Deepa for the publication of ImpactDAOs where anyone can learn to build their own DAO.  As entities of the future are organizing themselves as DAOs, this living book has the potential to be a critical component of the initial set up and designs..  🚀📙

Also on our radar this week 📡

• 🏛️ ESG DAO Updates: Teegan Bold from ESG DAO presents their solutions to measure an organizations' carbon impact transparently + a cool browser extension for people to assess organisations as you browse the web! Read about them here and vote for them in the upcoming People’s Choice Award for Best ESG Measurement System!
• The Realization of a Regenerative Economy: a blogpost by KlimaDao highlights its vision of a fully fledged ReFi era, and the ethos that defines our regenerative industry.  🙆‍♂️💡 Check it out below! 👇

Looking Forward 📍

Some of the exciting events coming up soon... Make sure to grab some tickets and support the ReFi regenerative renaissance wherever you are from!

• Crypto, Climate and Regenerative Finance 🎪
  (6th December in Bristol, UK): The first Refi Spring event connecting the UK Regen Scene! Check it out here --> Event Page

• The Future of Crypto-Assets in Europe and beyond 🎪
  (12th December in Brussels, Belgium): With a focus on regulatory measures, crypto market developments in going green, and a top tier list of speakers and participants.

• The Green Branch - Navigating the Voluntary Carbon Market  🎪 (13th December Webinar): Nature-based solutions project developers give their honest take on the Voluntary Carbon Markets.

Add your ReFi event! 👇🏽

Got a ReFi, crypto, or climate event coming up and what to have it featured in the newsletter? Add yours to ReFi Spring!

Cool projects that crossed our radar this week:

• 🏡 KUMO: KUMO enables borrowing the collateralized stablecoin KUSD against on-chain natural assets with no interest rate.  Are we seeing the MakerDao of Refi emerge?
• 💥 JustCarbon: A blockchain-powered marketplace that simplifies offsetting carbon emissions and supports high-quality carbon removal projects to combat climate change.  Recently, JustCarbon and Seafields announced a partnership for the tokenization of one billion carbon removal credit.  

Add your ReFi Project! 👇🏽

Have a project you want to add to our database? Click the button below to submit an application!

Have a fantastic weekend friends & we'll see you again next week 🫡

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