Hey there Regens 🌏! Maya Dentzel (@mayazdentzel) here with a weekly ReFi Roundup. As a PhD researcher at UC Santa Barbara, I study the Web3 & climate ecosystem in the global political and ideological context and believe that social justice and moral commitments go before technological innovation. Besides academia, I am stoked on cross-institutional collaboration (we can't build a movement in the bubble of web3 alone!) and am honoured to serve on WEF Crypto Sustainability Coalition's working group on Web3 and climate action.

This edition focuses on the big picture of ReFi as a form of resistance in the realities of  finance capitalism. You can also find the latest news and updates in the ReFi world🌿.

Let's jump in! 👇

Recognizing the crisis 📉

Let's address the elephant in the room  –  financial capitalism screwed us over. The system based on constant expansion and extraction of every aspect of life is not working. The crisis nature of financial capitalism is evidenced by a common occurrence of bank collapses (check out last week's roundup on Banking Crisis & Economic Diversity).

This is a classic example of what Nassim Taleb called  "Privatization of profits (high risk investment) and socialization of losses (bailout by taxpayer funds)". It negatively impacts communities, causing social issues, mental health problems, and environmental concerns.

What is Financial Capitalism?🤔

Financial capitalism is the reflection of the dominance of financial markets and complex financial instruments. Donald Mackenzie shows that before the 1990s, finance was once considered marginal in economic theory. But now it is indispensable in an economic system.

Financial capitalism is best described as deregulation, accumulation by disposession, privatization and financialization. In this system, anything not leading to profit maximization, like a clean environment or care work, is seen as an externality.

Bank collapses, extreme wealth inequlity, extractivism are NOT inevitable. Say it with me: We don't need to accept crises as normal. We can create a better system through commons.

Digital commons to the rescue🛟

Bauwens and Jandríc define commons as:

“a shared resource that is produced, maintained, and protected by a community or a group of stakeholders, using their own norms and regulations”

Blockchain's digital public infrastructure (DPI) can support commons-based peer production (CBPP) as a digital resistance. For example, as ReFi is converting capital into commons, it enables programmable value and promotes 'generative markets' over extractive ones.

But be aware of techno-solutionism ⚠️

However, we can't rely on Web3 alone. A belief that any problem, regardless of complexity, can be addressed by introducing a new tech tool is at the core of 'solutionism', the concept described by Evgeny Morozov in his book "To save everything, save here" (who also has an academic newsletter on blockchain: The Crypto Syllabus).

He emphasizes the need for tech solutions to:

"engage users as citizens - rather than customers and prioritize self-conscious design with moral and political philosophy"

Values before tech 💚

The open-source software movement resisted the Internet's commercialization, challenging traditional capitalist production and intellectual property models, driven by a belief in a shared future.

For this future, Crandall and Vázquez  advocate for proper design principles:

“technology should be the tool that follows values, not the value-proposition in and of itself"  

The hope is that, when driven by the right values, blockchain infrastructure can help build coalitions of digital solidarity that collectively can pressure power relocation from private financial institutions to the public or commons domain.

Change the system 🔄

As regens, we must continually remind and check ourselves to make sure we are adhering to some of ReFi's core esposued values: climate justice, community empowerment, power distribution, to name a few. To do this requires social realization before technological implementation.

Our mission in ReFi is to avoid becoming financial capitalism, prevent Web3 from fostering wealth concentration, and prioritize regeneration through strong democratic institutions and digital commons 📣. 📣.

ReFi DAO Update | Global Network State: Pioneering Regenerative Economics & Culture 🌍

Setting up a new embassy in Lisbon as the first ReFi DAO local Node, a key step in journey to create a Global Network State rooted in key startup cities worldwide..

Australian draft bill aims to create 'Nature Repair Market' 🇦🇺

The Australian government released a draft bill to establish a (world-first!) nature repair market to achieve nature positive outcomes.

If passed, a nature repair market could attract funds for biodiversity. The nature repair market is a paradigm shift from the ‘compensation’ model of biodiversity markets in Australia. This would be a huge win for conservation! 🌿 🦘

ReFi terminology 101 📖

Toucan created a comprehensive guide of ReFi definitions that traces back the ideas studied by economists since 1916😱. It provides a useful visualization of conventional (i.e. extractive) vs regenerative systems.

The Weave Issue on Regenerative Economy 🧠

The Weave Magazine came out with a special issue on regeneration. It includes a discussion with Charles Eisenstein (the author of Sacred Economics 📚) on human regeneration as a prerequisite to planetary regeneration and the idea of Inner Economy.

Regenerative Business Tool 🍩

Doughnut Economics Action Lab launched a regenerative business tool for regulators and anyone who shapes public policy.

Regen Network Grantee Report is out 🌱

Regen Network’s Community Fund Program was started to incubate and activate ideas and projects to regenerate Earth’s ecosystems. Check out their achievements and impact below👇

Celo Europe DAO proposal 🇪🇺

Celo has launched a Europe DAO proposal to help increase Celo’s footprint in the continent. The first season plan for Celo Europe consists of:

1. Testing different models to help Celo reach out to more web3 builders interested in working on the future of ReFi
2. Establishing the baseline for DAO governance of the Celo Europe DAO

Hyphen joins Climate Collective 🌍

Climate Collective is a leading coalition of stakeholders with the goal to unlock verifiable climate solutions at scale. This week the coalition was joined by Hyphen who is helping boost confidence in carbon market and achieve net-zero targets by building new digital tools to close the data gap.

Top 5 most-voted projects of the week at refidao.com:

Top 5 most voted projects of the week:

1. 🏞 Betterverse: Building the world's charity aggregator on Web3 🌱 Donate, collect NFTs, track your donation, share with your friends and followers.
2. ✳️ Fórum Popular de Cultura de Lumiar e Biorregião: a public interest collective integrating local culture, movements, and talent from the bioregion of Lumiar, São Pedro da Serra.
3. 🚜 Sustainable Impact Token: a blockchain enabled investment platform for sustainable algae protein projects around the world.
4. 🌱 de_plan proto: tools to enable Web3 for planners, developers, regens, and environmentalists.
5. 🟩 Co2Bit: Co2Bit has agreements with Sovereign Nation States and NGOs to use Co2Bitcoins (Co2B) to help finance environmental/humanitarian projects.

Votes have now been reset so head over to refidao.com, make an account, and show some support to your favourite projects in the ecosystem this week! 💚

Add your ReFi Project! 👇🏽

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

ReFi Podcast Teaser & ReFi DAO Update: Keys to Regeneration with Rene from Celo 🎙️ 📣

jE sits down with Rene, the CEO and founder of Celo. They discuss the current state of ReFi following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and its impact on the industry. Delve into Celo's origin story and explore the key interventions needed to ensure a bright future for ReFi, focusing on unlocking scalable growth and solving real-world problems.

FULL BONUS EPISODE NOW LIVE on all major podcast platforms! 👇

From open access to carbon pollution, to common pool resource 💨: Building carbon financial infrastructure with Toucan

This week, The Ownership Economy brought on Toucan Protocol CEO and Founder Raphaël to chat about carbon finance, market dynamics, transparency, and the coordination infrastructure necessary to scale climate finance in this decade.

Education as a catalyzer of mass adoption with Camila Ramos 📚

On episode 3 of Last Mile DeFi Marcus chats with Camila Ramos (writer and Web3 developer) about equal access to education and the opportunity for crypto to provide enhanced financial infrastructure and drive more prosperity for Latin Americans.

Other 🔥 podcasts on our radar:

• Building a Coordi-nation with Primavera De Filippi - Green Pill Podcast ep. 101
• Carbon Markets & Thallo with Hayley Moller - The Block Explorer ep. 73

Explore ReFi Events at ReFiDAO.com 👇🏽

Here are some highlighted upcoming events that caught our eye this week. Make sure to grab some tickets and support the ReFi renaissance wherever you are! 👇

Re:build global summit 2023

(April 14th - 16th, Online): tune in to the next re:build global online summit, uniting passionate re:builders worldwide in designing sustainable and resilient communities. With 70 Speakers including John Ellisson, Samuel Delesque, and many other awesome Regens. Grab tickets now and use discount code REFIDAO23 for a special discount! 👇

Web3 Splash: Poolside Hub Opening

(April 11 in Lisbon, Portugal🇵🇹): an event co-oragnized by ReFi Lisboa, Impact Market  and Poolside Hub aims to give attendees an immersive tour through the story of regeneration as we redesign our systems of value to finally take care of people and the planet 🌍.

Sustainable Blockchain Summit

(April 13th in Boston, MA🇺🇸): Filecoin Green is organizing the Sustainable Blockchain Summit that brings together experts and enthusiasts in ReFi, Energy Systems, Carbon Markets, and Cryptoeconomics for discussions and networking.

Heart Masters in Ibiza

(May 27-June 1st in Ibiza, Spain🇪🇸): If you're feeling like going on a journey, check out Heart Masters event focused on regenerating systems of peace as whole human leadership and healing❤️‍🩹.

Add your ReFi event! 👇🏽

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

Multiple ReFi jobs at Flow Carbon

Check out the ReFi Jobs platform for more! 👇

Here are some of the awesome newsletters that caught our attention this week:

dMRV: function, importance, and role in scaling and ensuring accountability in VCM

dMRV aka digital measurement, reporting, and verification tools have been on up and up.

The latest post by dClimate demonstrates the limitations of traditional MRV methodologies and shows how digital MRV has the potential to be a more efficient, effective, and comprehensive approach to monitoring and evaluating climate change mitigation efforts.

What to look out for...👀

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

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