ReFi Podcast

On episode 11 of ReFi Podcast we chat with Kristin McDonald, from Eniac Ventures. We touch on the dynamics of moving the carbon market on-chain, the emerging trends in that space, and we take a look beyond carbon, and the future of valuing, and tokenizing biodiversity..Some of the topics we jump into:00:00 Intro 02:35 "My original a-ha moment with crypto..." 04:40 Is Web2 following the trend of financialilzation of natural resources? Or just Web3? 06:00 Rewarding work in Web2 is really hard.. 07:28 What was the focus on your studies on the path to where you are now? 08:49 "efficient capital allocation is a really , really powerful tool..How do we incentivize behavior that is beneficial for everyone?.." 12:14 What's the stumbling block for mass adoption of climate tech in Web3? "Cultural clash..need to bridge communities of traditional climate space and Web3 space.." 17:00 Climate community response to all the recent new protocols and innovations? 19:00 "Cambrian explosion of new projects has validated opinion of this is a waste of energy..increased fragmentation.." 20:41 What do you see as the first leverage point for mass adoption? "seeing traditional companies buying on-chain carbon.." 25:08 Thoughts on the emerging on-chain carbon market?  30:57 You're understanding of science around net zero?  "There's a difference between decabonizing and net zero.."36:02 2030 2040 targets, how do they affect your work as a VC? 37:27 What's exciting you about deploying capital?  39:27 Do you see the market pushing beyond carbon? 40:43 "Climate change is so urgent, we have this myopic focus on reducing emissions..simple narrative.."  41:15 Cambrian explosion within ReFi movement  44:20 "The level of collaboration within ReFi is just wild and unprecedented.."  44:45 How do you approach valuing protocols, web3 ventures?  47:07 factors for founders to consider when trying to raise a seed round of investment?  49:26 Is venture capitalism becoming more collaborative outside of Web3?  51:12 What do you see happening beyond carbon?  54:09 "glimmers of hope of new innovation to tackle MRV problems..Drones..LIDAR.."   56:50 Prioritizing/maximizing carbon pulldown or biodiversity 01:02:30 Any specific companies you've come across taking a look at the climate challenges?  01:05:15 How can people connect with you?  Follow Kristin and check out Eniac Ventures:https://twitter.com/KristinEIisehttps://twitter.com/eniacvc--------------------------------------------Join the conversation on Twitter, follow https://twitter.com/ReFiDAOisthttps://twitter.com/climateXcryptohttps://twitter.com/johnx25bd

On episode 10 of ReFi Podcast we chat with Magenta Ceiba, from Bloom Network. A unique organization that enables and empowers local grass root communities that perform regenerative acts. Using the power of Web3 to share knowledge and resources to both heal the Earth and human relationships... Some of the topics we jump into: 00:00 Intro 06:05 Who are you and what's Bloom Network? 06:58 "bloom network initially formed.." 11:00 When did you become involved? 18:31 Breaking down capital flow of Bloom Network and how it all works 20:04 Uganda project example integrating permaculture into local education there 23:57 Is it crucial to respect the needs of local people in Bloom's projects? "Leadership should be from local chapters.." 25:18 "Many of the local chapters develop services that are relevant to the global community.." 25:45 Are the chapters already running before they are onboarded to Bloom network? What is the value offer for them connecting to Bloom network? 27:16 "There's scaling momentum you get from a global brand recognition.." 28:05 "Shared understanding of community to collaborate to care for the planet.." 29:05 "The ability for the public to find them doesn't exist.." 30:39 How do you approach grassroots organising? 32:25 "Colonial history has destabilized our autonomous relationships with nature and each other.. grass roots aims to empower local people to push back.." 43:58 When did you realize Web3 would be critical in your mission? after hitting walls in fundraising etc and realizing we need each other 48:46 "Bloom network is a peer to peer action network for regenerative cultures" 48:58 What does this regenerative culture look like and why the need for peer to peer? 49:02 "Indigenous cultures are naturally peer to peer..." 50:55 The crucial role of Web3 and peer to peer in regenerative economies 51:56 "Through Web3 we can create our own subsidization and value systems..community driven..not centralized corporate extraction.." 52:38 Rio Bloom example 54:57 Urban/rural relationships 55:37 How do communities feedback learning into the Bloom network? 01:01:55 What's one thing someone on the ground can do to help the Bloom Network? Follow Magenta and check out Bloom Network: https://twitter.com/magentaceiba magenta@bloomnetwork.org newlocalbloom@gmail.com -------------------------------------------- Join the conversation on Twitter, follow https://twitter.com/ReFiDAOist https://twitter.com/climateXcrypto https://twitter.com/johnx25bd Thanks to Feed Ignite for the podcast and micro-content production: https://feedignite.com  

On episode 9 of ReFi Podcast we chat with Gregory Landua, CEO and Cofounder of Regen Network. He's been influential in building the core foundational aspects of the Regenerative finance movement, and is credited by many for coining the term ReFi... Some of the topics we jump into: 00:00 Intro 02:29 What was the origin of Regen network? Galapagos goat ecology 08:00 When did you become aware of Crypto? "First started discussing bitcoin back in 2009.." 11:31 wrote regenerative enterprise 15:39 "At this point i'm all in..lets see what it looks like to build this.." 16:26 "I started asking how would the social process be connected to an ecological process of regeneration..and Regen was born out of that question.. " 19:29 "I've long hoped we could build infrastructure so it serves to regenerate cultural connect with the world.." 23:57 Backbone of Regen explained 30:36 Multiple methodologies in a credit class 31:39 Who plays the role of the verifiers?  32:52 "We wanted it to be possible for communities to self verify.." 33:42 Do eco credits have to meet vera and gold standard crediting standards? 38:18 "The foundation for ecological health stewarded by indigenous people..make sure they are at choice of participation.." 39:48 Sovereign choice of Web3 participation 43:24 Who are the key partners to help direct climate financing in the right direction? 46:40 "A big part on what we focus on.. creating credit classes" 48:00 "Easier to measure impacts on flooding/erosion than carbon soil cycle.." 49:46 Is there a minimum limit on size of land to take part in the carbon plus grassland methodology? 53:00 What are the incentives within regen for say, farmers to take up regenerative practices? "In the initial carbon grassland pilot 85% of payment went to farmer.." 58:48 "In our early days we referred to regenerative incentives as reverse mining.." 01:00:00 "Reinvention of value..regenerative finance revolution..ecological health = wealth.. " 01:02:28 The demand side of the equation 01:05:13 "Carbon offsets should be understood to be the first baby step towards a more radical reinvention of finance and money that starts to re-embed humans in the larger planetary carbon cycle in a culturally and socially conscious way." 01:06:28 Who are the actors in Regen and what are the incentives? 01:10:19 "Ecological assets are the most important assets of the 21st century, if we get this wrong we're toast..when the stakes are that high people change.." 01:12:17 What's one thing people can do to get involved in Regen network? Follow Gregory and check out Regen Network: https://twitter.com/gregory_landua https://twitter.com/regen_network https://www.regen.network -------------------------------------------- Join the conversation on Twitter, follow https://twitter.com/ReFiDAOist https://twitter.com/climateXcrypto https://twitter.com/johnx25bd Thanks to Feed Ignite for the podcast and micro-content production: https://feedignite.com  

On episode 8 of ReFi Podcast we chat with Rune Christensen, cofounder of MakerDAO. Rune's history with Crypto goes way back to the early days of Bitcoin. We chat through his approved proposal for clean money on the Maker forum and how DAI can be used to support the climate and much more besides... Some of the topics we jump into: 00:00 Intro          01:44 What do you do to regenerate yourself? 04:40 Where did the vision for clean money come from?                      Sovereignty of crypto was awesome.. 07:20 Rollercoaster experiences through crashes 08:00 Volatility in market lead to need for money equivalent stablecoin 12:30 Can financial censorship be an appropriate tool to use? 18:25 When did you become aware that addressing climate change was the right course for DeFi? 23:22 Climate danger more about psychology than physics 25:20 Greenwashing 27:33 Any core weaknesses within DeFi for making a difference? 31:46 Unpacking how real world assets, natural capital connects with the DAI stablecoin 38:00 MakerDAO explained 40:40 What should you do with the power of DeFi 41:45 West going crazy for stablecoins 43:26 Value into dollars, going to unsustainable business.. 45:30 The more you put into fiat, the more you're funding unsustainability 49:00 Reaction of community using Maker for climate impact? 51:15 Clean money proposal being accepted 53:14 It's called clean money not green or sustainable etc to avoid greenwashing.. 57:00 The goal is telling people what if you could make a real difference with your money instead of paper straws B.S 59:00 Reprogramming the financial system.. 59:56 The core mechanics of the governance process and what's being learned 01:02:20 The opportunity of clean money.. 01:07:40 Voter committee concept 01:10:10 The problem with Maker 01:11:25 For a DAO to work.. 01:15:50 What's one thing people can do today to help the clean money vision? Follow Rune and check out MakerDAO: https://twitter.com/runekek https://twitter.com/MakerDAO https://makerdao.com -------------------------------------------- Join the conversation on Twitter, follow: https://twitter.com/ReFiDAOist https://twitter.com/climateXcrypto https://twitter.com/johnx25bd Thanks to Feed Ignite for the podcast and micro-content production: https://feedignite.com

On episode 7 of ReFi Podcast, we are joined by Tomer Bariach, general partner of Flori Ventures. Tomer is a pioneer of token economics and opens our minds to how crypto can be used to enable a universal basic income. He also offers some challenging questions on the area of token incentives we are creating ourselves on our journey to scaling the carbon market on chain...Some of the topics we jump into:00:00 Intro01:14  Tomer's education and path to Flori07:40 How does Celo resonate with you?09:50 What thesis' are you working on at Flori?13:00 Why is decentralization so important?"I trust a well designed incentive structure economies more than people"16:30 the role incentives play in influencing behaviors  20:09 what do you see happening in this while ReFi movement?only way we understand value is to consume/destroy22:40 natural capital currencies, backing with the health of the forest24:47 3 pillars of ReFi29:12 Unpacking UBI31:45 "you are a human being, you are giving our economy value.."35:25 How do we get UBI into the mainstream?39:26 Which projects are making the biggest impact on the ground an in communities?43:14 how do we mitigate against double accounting in carbon markets?1. decentralized verification - wikipedia/encyclopedia2. Fungibility3. carbons into the ground per block for bitcoin style curve, gold rush for sequestering carbon49:33 Who else is trying to crack measurement and verification reporting?51:21 Do you like sharing your ideas?"its in my interest to share my ideas"53:15 What do you think of on the ecology of money? 58:28 What primitive crypto economic mechanisms are you excited about?01:01:18 What interests you in under collateralized loans?"getting money to people on the ground who have no other reasonable access..""community credit score.."01:09:00 top  under collateralized models 01:11:00 summary of chat and closing thoughts on the ReFi movementConnect with Tomer and check out Flori Ventures:https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomer-bariach-496a2b48https://www.floriventures.com--------------------------------------------Join the conversation on Twitter, follow https://twitter.com/ReFiDAOisthttps://twitter.com/climateXcryptohttps://twitter.com/johnx25bdThanks to Feed Ignite for the podcast and micro-content production: https://feedignite.com

On episode 6 of ReFi Podcast we chat with @rebecca_mqamelo from Zerion. She shares her deep knowledge and research findings on community backed currencies, diversity, inclusion, and the gift: the economy of reciprocation. Some of the topics we jump into: 00:00 Intro 02:37 About Rebecca 05:09 Rebecca - "I really care about understanding where one comes from, this is tied to my identity.." 06:09 Rebecca - "i'm really passionate about my continent and what it means to be global and African.." 09:13 What are the choices we are making now for future generations? 10:25 Rebecca - "What does a world look like where evverything is tokenized?.. 11:39 Rebecca - "Our sense of value is influenced by this noise...empathize value through carbon credits etc.." 15:19 The background, value and importance of Zerion 17:12 Rebecca -"Zerion was the first DeFi aggregator to integrate Uniswap... Now it's a portal to all decentralized finance.." 18:39 Rebecca - "Whether you are a first time investor or a degen of five years it gives you clarity across different wallets.." 19:29 Rebecca - "We went from tokens, to NFTs, now we're indexing wallets.." 20:55 What have you learned from your experiences working in different communities and projects? 24:18 Rebecca - "In all the research I've done...The biggest thing is whatever token you are building there need to be an on the ground element.." 26:03 What happens when there isn't an on the ground component? 33:32 Local currencies being reflective of their culture 34:33 Rebecca - "In the past our identity was defined by our physical surroundings.. now those physical barriers are gone..now tokens are being tied to identity.." 37:58 How do we think about money as a language? 43.25 Diversity and representation within the crypto community 44:56 Rebecca - "People underestimate how the narrative is still malleable...but we focus too much on the financial side its alienated people..branding problem.." 46:24 Rebecca - "If you want people to use a currency make sure the builders are representing the people you are going after.." 49:03 What roles do investors play in all this? 51:02 Rebecca - "If everybody did have a wallet, what would the needs be?..."(Changing available opportunities, onboarding etc) 54:03 What role do indigenous land stewards play in healing the Earth and creating communities of care? 55:10 - Rebecca - "There is a reality that climate change is happening..and there are people who have taken up the challenge of protecting whats there.." 57:36 How do we collectively make sense of what matters? 01:01:13 Rebecca - "A $10 bill doesn't tell you how it got to you..Crypto gives us the ability to do that.." 01:05:14 Gift relationships and the realization of inter-dependance 01:05:58 Rebecca - "Gifting is at the core of all human relationships..." 01:11:07 What can people do to help you or Web3 movement/ReFi? Follow Rebecca and check out Zerion: https://www.rebeccamqamelo.com https://twitter.com/rebecca_mqamelo https://zerion.io -------------------------------------------- Join the conversation on Twitter, follow https://twitter.com/ReFiDAOist https://twitter.com/climateXcrypto https://twitter.com/johnx25bd Thanks to Feed Ignite for the podcast and micro-content production: https://feedignite.com  

On the 5th episode of ReFi Podcast, we sit with Markus Franke. We hear about cLabs and the vision for Celo—a mobile-first blockchain.  We discuss natural capital backed currencies, universal basic income, and so much more. Some of the topics we jump into: 00:00 Intro 01:10 What is Celo and cLabs? 01:51 Celo is a layer 1 blockchain... 05:09 What piece of this puzzle are you involved in? 07:51 Markus "How can we build nature backed currencies on Celo?..." 09:27 Building a simple inclusive mobile system 11:31 Markus "the user experience is very important.." 16:33 What's being built on Celo right now that's redesigning financial systems? 18:11 Markus "kickstarter are decentralising and using Celo.." 21:26 Why is DeFi liquidity good for inclusion? 23:50 Markus "if theres strong liquidity in DeFi then people everywhere can get a loan on Celo" 25:45 How are you making liquidity sustainable on Celo? 27:26 Markus "from the start Defi had a mission to make defi accessible to any mobile user...." 28:59 Markus "this can be used to finance universal income.." 30:19 Markus "this opens up so many possibilities, having something like kickstarter on the blockchain... economic value is created in a sustainable way" 30:51 Empowering people to participate in the financial systems while mitigating risks 35:59 Markus "when we built the protocol we built a simulation...to learn...to see stability..." 37:45 Provo project 39:19 Markus "provo allows banks to try the technology..." 40:09 Can you see your stable coin portfolio sit along side with central bank digital currencies? 40:35 Markus the amazing thing about this technology is it finally allows for competition between currency..innovation..haven't seen innovation for 200 years..." 42:59 The current state of money 45.29 where does money actually come from? 50:09 natural backed currencies in the regenerative system 53:44 Markus "backing money with trees...what we want to see more of..." 54:35 Setting the right financial incentives in nature 58:49 Bringing the natural capital assets on chain 01:04:12 johnx25bd drops some alpha on Astra protocol 01:12:40 Markus "It was interesting to see with NFTs...nature and trees can be NFTs..." 01:13:18 The opportunity in the ReFi movement to redesign money to regenerate the environment 01:16:56 Why should people build on Celo?   Follow Markus and check out cLabs and Celo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markus-f-82242028/ https://clabs.co/ https://celo.org/   -------------------------------------------- Join the conversation on Twitter, follow https://twitter.com/ReFiDAOist https://twitter.com/climateXcrypto  https://twitter.com/johnx25bd Thanks to Feed Ignite for the podcast and micro-content production:  https://feedignite.com

On episode 4 of ReFi podcast, John and I are joined by Vivek and Andy from Kernel. They take us on a deep dive into the philosophies and ideas that are instilled into the foundations of Kernel, an online community that helps people get up to speed with Web3, with the importance of human relationships at it's core.   0:00 - Intro03:00 - Vivek, where did you two first encounter each other?07:00 - Andy how was it meeting Vivek for the first time?12:17 - From friends to Kernel12:50 - Vivek's backstory and college experience17:41 - starting Kernel24:49 - Why is Web3 enabling this new expression of the self?36:00 - Andy's take on the individual and the collective43:47 - The 3 pillars of ReFi53:41 - The limits of fixed metrics01:00:00 -What mitigation can we build against emergent threats as we build new types of money?01:09:17 - How can web3 respond to systemic issues to create communities of care? 01:17:00 - Building-in the ability to build policy into the protocol01:21:50 - You cannot break the law on Ethereum01:29:00 - How have you built this thriving Kernel community?01:35:06 - What is the purpose of finance?01:40:00 - What can ReFi do to help Kernel? -------------------------------------------- Join the conversation on Twitter, follow https://twitter.com/ReFiDAOist https://twitter.com/climateXcrypto https://twitter.com/johnx25bd   Thanks to Feed Ignite for the podcast and micro-content production: https://feedignite.com

On the third episode of ReFi Podcast, we sit with Michael Kelly & Fred Fournier from Open Forest Protocol. Discussing the new and emerging technologies they are pioneering to overcome the hurdles of MRV (Measurement, reporting and verification) of forestry projects. Some of the topics we jump into: - How did OFP start? 01:07- It's a collaborative space 06:30- Overview of OFP 07:16- Are there third party registries that act in this system? 12:00- What's been your experience engaging with smaller and medium scale projects? 15:13- The economic model: What are the economic incentives for people to use your protocol?  19:30- Validators policing against the chance of any anomalous activity 24:00- How do you see the potential land to be forested and economic opportunity? 27:23- The capacity to tokenize natural capital 30:48- The trade-off between data storage and resource constrained blockchain environments 33:10- The scope for new partners to learn the system from MRV to Blockchain and beyond 41:10-  How does your annual validating check-in help with the capital flow? 43:19- Does OFP produce carbon credit tokens that we can buy? 50:35- Is there a risk of double accounting? 55:30- The 2 pronged "Collateral Area" system of validation 58:30- Addressing the oracle problem, bringing true information on to the blockchain 01:07:40- What can the ReFi community do to help the cause? 01:11:57- The experience of building the OFP community 01:16:12- Reaching out to indigenous people and inviting them to participate in the system 01:20:27 -------------------------------------------- Join the conversation on Twitter, follow https://twitter.com/ReFiDAOist  https://twitter.com/climateXcrypto  https://twitter.com/johnx25bd Thanks to Feed Ignite for the podcast and micro-content production:  https://feedignite.com

On the second episode of the ReFi Podcast we sit with Sumedha Deshmukh to discuss inclusion within the web3/crypto community.    Some of the topics we jump into:   - What are the problems? 4:10 - What are the opportunities to redesign the system using DeFi? 8:36 - The risks involved 13:15 - Why crypto is so exclusive 16:48 - “Progressive inclusion” 23:07 - Will financial incentives help with inclusion? 29:50 - Protecting natural resources 37:05 - The “story of the self” 44:10 - What’s measured, matters 49:14 - “How do we measure the world” 57:14 - The speciation of money 1:03:43 - Financial identities 1:13:49 - What’s the purpose of a bank? 1:17:16 - Deprecating currency 1:21:00   -------------------------------------------- Join the conversation on Twitter, follow https://twitter.com/ReFiDAOist https://twitter.com/climateXcrypto https://twitter.com/johnx25bd   Thanks to Feed Ignite for the podcast and micro-content production: https://feedignite.com