It may be cliche to say that 2026 is pivotal for the ReFi ecosystem. With fundraising opportunities even more uncertain than usual, this may be the year we find out once and for all what works and what doesn't.

A few of the things were looking forward to watching:

• Adoption of the Azos $AZUSD impact stablecoin

• Growth of Ethereum Localism

• Expansion of the Regen Commons movement

• Rollout of Arkreen's portable eCandle solar charger

• Progress of Glow Foundation

• Launch of Ethereum staking to fund regen initiatives (Squad Staking)

We plan to release the 2026 version of the State of ReFi report in Q2, so we hope to have updates on some of the above!

As for us, we've got some of our own updates to share:

• SDG Impact Tracker

• Funding Readiness Framework

• Web3 Tooling Series

• CARBON Copy Site

• Sunsetting CARBON Copy API v1

Read on for more details!

SDG Impact Tracker

First on the list is a UN SDG tracker we added to CARBON Copy thanks to a GG24 grant from Regen Coordination.

There are two primary goals of the tracker:

1. Help people understand Web3's progress towards the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

2. Lay the foundation for future data aggregation.

The challenge currently is the lack of data. A core part of another GG24 grant we received is to significantly increase the number of projects we are getting data from. We specifically want to target the bigger projects who themselves are data aggregators for people and/or projects.

Take a look here:

SDG Tracker | CARBON Copy

A dedicated dashboard for tracking Web3's progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

https://carboncopy.news

Funding Readiness Framework App

Next up is the funding readiness framework app we created as part of the ARQ research series last year. With the help of a pilot grant from the GG24 PG Tooling round, we were able to make the app a reality.

At its core, FRF is aimed at helping projects signal their readiness for growth-level funding ($50,000+). On one side, the projects provide details about various aspects of themselves. On the other, ecosystem leaders evaluate project submissions to create an aggregate score. Through the wisdom of the crowd, we think FRF will enable accurate signalling to funders.

We also see submissions as something projects can carry with them when they apply for grants, instead of having to retype answers to the same questions over and over.

This is the first separate app that we've built on top of CARBON Copy. For now, the integration between the two is subtle, but we hope to expand it in the near future. We've also integrated Karma to help provide additional context to evaluators and Ethereum Attestation Framework so that projects and evaluators can attest to their submissions and evaluations, respectively.

Check it out here:

Funding Readiness Framework by CARBON Copy

The Funding Readiness Framework is an open-source project developed by CARBON Copy to help Web3 ecosystems and grant round operators understand which projects are ready for growth-level funding.

https://frf.carboncopy.news

Web3 Tooling Series

As part of a GG23 Dapps & Apps round grant, we partnered with Greenpill Writers Guild to produce a research series on Web3 tooling use by ReFi projects. This week, we published the first of three articles, with the remaining two scheduled for February 2nd and 9th.

This research series draws on interviews, surveys, and case studies to understand the real-world impact of Web3 tooling within ReFi projects. The insights will feed into the Local ReFi Toolkit, a resource designed to help communities navigate coordination challenges with practical strategies and infrastructure choices.

Give it a read here:

CARBON Copy Site

Aside from the tracker and data integration, we have some more exciting plans thanks to the GG24 Interop and Analytics round.

• Chains page where the data is broken down by chain ecosystem

• Charts for individual project metrics viewable on project profile pages

• Updated fundraising data and a refreshed fundraising page that will include everything, not just venture funding

• A redesigned impact feed on the homepage that relies on other sources besides Karma

We think the above will further our mission to be the provider of open Web3 impact data.

Stay tuned for updates!

Sunsetting CARBON Copy API v1, Welcoming v2

When we launched the new version of CARBON Copy last October, we also began a transition from the v1 API to our new v2 API. And while we won't be shutting the v1 API down immediately, we do aim to do so before the end of Q1 this year.

What's new in v2?

We've streamlined our endpoints and designed them with open data in mind. We will soon launch a client API key registration page that will allow anyone to create an API key for free and begin accessing our data.

ReFi Impact Snapshot

New Projects in Our Database

We've recently added the following projects:

• Bread Cooperative is a worker collective building tech.

• LAKE is a pioneering ecosystem introducing Digital Water — real, premium spring water digitalized for borderless access, trade, and ownership.

• Olas is an open protocol for sharing, interrogating and aggregating trustworthy information.

• Minilend enables users from developing countries to save in stablecoins and use it as collateral to access credit in their local currencies.

• Haraka issues stablecoin-based microloans based on social reputation.

• Telaga Charity enables donations to the people of Indonesia.

• Etherisc is the leading blockchain platform revolutionising the build, purchase and sale of parametric insurance.

• OceanBlocks is dedicated to finding ways to evolve ESG strategies into ESV strategies by locating value in the transition toward a greener economy.

You can see our full database of projects here:

ReFi Landscape | CARBON Copy

See an overview of projects and categories in the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) ecosystem.

https://carboncopy.news

On Tap

• A deep dive into our funding readiness framework and how it can help projects prepare themselves for growth-level funding

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

ReFi Intelligence Platform | CARBON Copy

A data-driven tool tracking the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) ecosystem.

https://carboncopy.news

A quick note before getting to the good stuff:

We've made it into the Gitcoin Grants 24 Interop, Infra, and Analytics around on Giveth!

We are working hard to aggregate and deliver open Web3 ecological and social impact data. Any support to help us advance that mission would be deeply appreciated.

Even $1 can go a long way. 💚

Azos launches $AZUSD to the public

We're really excited about this one.

In short, $AZUSD is a USD stablecoin backed by onchain impact assets from Glo Dollar, Klima Protocol, and Helios. It's minted when people deposit impact assets as collateral - similar to the DAI model.

What we like most about it is that it's the final piece of the puzzle for impact asset ownership. The days of locked liquidity are over.

Take Glo Dollar as an example. Regen-aligned projects would love to hold more $USDGLO in their treasury, but those funds are often needed for operational costs. With Azos, these projects can deposit their $USDGLO as collateral and mint $AZUSD at a very reasonable interest rate.

For revenue-generating impact assets like Helios, it's even better. You no longer have to worry about your liquidity being locked simply because you're doing the right thing for the planet.

Impact stablecoin tracker

Now that $AZUSD is off the ground, we figured it was time to unveil our impact stablecoin tracker.

Glo Dollar currently dominates, but we expect to see $AZUSD rise quickly in the coming months. Keep track at https://carboncopy.news/impact/stablecoins

New Projects in Our Database

We've recently added the following projects:

• ImpactScope is building onchain tools to verify sustainability claims and tokenise impact outcomes.

• Higher Status Global builds smart fintech tools designed to unlock market liquidity and channel catalytic capital into global regenerative and climate innovation projects to accelerate their capacity to scale.

• Aquara is a decentralised water fund and global movement to protect the world’s water.

• Campfire is an on-chain renewable energy investments platform.

• ReFi Japan runs the Japanese-language Klima News newsletter.

You can see our full database of projects here.

On Tap

• A deep dive into our funding readiness framework

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

ReFi Intelligence Platform | CARBON Copy

A data-driven tool tracking the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) ecosystem.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

We launched the new version of CARBON Copy this past week. Allow us to give you a little tour of what's in store.

Home

The first thing you'll notice is the completely revamped homepage. Gone is the content-first approach; in its place, a high-level overview of the single metric we believe is the ultimate measure of ReFi's success: total funding to impact projects.

Total funding to impact projects is, at the moment, an aggregation of three metrics:

• Investment in impact projects

• Grants to impact projects

• Lending to impact projects

We envision adding ecological credit sales, universal basic income, and impact incentives at some point in the future. There may be others as well.

The other thing worth noting is the Activity section. It pulls in data directly from Karma GAP. Unfortunately, ReFi projects haven't been particularly good about adding updates (especially in the absence of grant rounds), so we will explore other ways to bolster the data in this table.

Impact Data

Other than the homepage, the change we're most excited about is dedicated pages for each category. In the previous version of the impact dashboard, we had one high-level view and no indication of performance over time or performance by project.

This new version provides both. Charts show progress since September 2024 (when we started tracking data) and the project split by a single metric. We also highlight the key metrics in the category as well as display a table showing project performance. There is still a lot of data and metrics to add, so these pages are very much a work in progress.

One thing to note is that in some cases, the Last Updated date is in the past. We've run into situations where a project stops transmitting data, so we just take the date of the last change.

ReFi Landscape

We decided to take a slightly different approach to the project database. Instead of the table as before, we went with more of a landscape approach so it would be easy to see which projects were part of which categories in our taxonomy. Clicking on the project logo takes you to, as before, a dedicated project profile page, while clicking on a category title takes you do a dedicated category page.

Two other things to note:

1. There is now a dedicated news page that takes the form of a searchable feed.

2. There is a also a dedicated venture funding page showing recent deals and deals by project

Our plan is to evolve this page into a more holistic fundraising page that includes grants received by ReFi projects.

Content

This section houses all of the content we created for the last version of CARBON Copy. The feature and learn articles are still there, as are the reports and newsletter.

One thing we are focused on is compiling a comprehensive list of resources produced by ReFi projects. Nothing like this yet exists, to our knowledge, so we hope it can ramp up the knowledge sharing within the ecosystem.

All in all, we think the new CARBON Copy is a major upgrade for the ReFi ecosystem's ability to demonstrate its impact. Our major goal now is to integrate more project data so that we can finally begin to truly understand just how much value ReFi projects are providing to the fight against climate change and social inequality.

If you have any suggestions or want your project's data integrated, we'd love to hear from you. Reach out at hello@carboncopy.news and we'll take it from there.

Thank you!

Roadmap

To give you a more structured sense of where we envision taking this new version of CARBON Copy, here is a peak at what we have planned:

• Trending metrics on the homepage (metrics that have had major increases over the past week or month)

• Line charts showing historical performance for individual projects, not just aggregate metrics

• AI integration, either in the form of an MCP server or agent, or both

• New views on the Projects page for things like location, chain ecosystem, and impact area

• A way to determine "last active" date for projects so that we can keep the listing updated and relevant

• As mentioned above, a more complete fundraising page

• A dedicated page for chain ecosystem impact data

And that's just the start. Much more to come once we start planning future releases!

New Projects in Our Database

We've recently added the following projects:

• Pure Sky is a carbon credit ratings agency DAO controlled by investors and directed through a weighted vote.

• ReFi Mediterranean is a bioregional initiative focused on catalysing ReFi and Web3 solutions across the Mediterranean.

You can see the full database of projects here:

On Tap

• A deep dive into our funding readiness framework

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

ReFi Intelligence Platform | CARBON Copy

A data-driven tool tracking the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) ecosystem.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

When we first launched CARBON Copy just over two years ago, our primary goal was to tell the ReFi story through feature articles, interviews, reports, and news recaps. We had identified the lack of a cohesive narrative in the space, and this was our way of filling the void. 42 features, 7 interviews, 3 reports, and dozens of news recaps later, we think we did a pretty good job covering the topics that matter.

At the same time, we always knew that data was the future. If ReFi couldn't prove its worth to the world, we surmised, it ran the risk of becoming yet another over-hyped Web3 invention. And so, we began collecting as much of the new oil as we could. Projects, news, media coverage, fundraising, impact, activity, builders, opportunities, events, knowledge, tokens, and more. We launched a ReFi project database to provide access to this data. Each project had its own profile page, each category its own summary page. It was, we thought, something the space really needed.

In truth, the project database and profile pages weren't nearly as popular as we had hoped. Traffic was still primarily driven by articles from Trinity Morphy, Tereza Bizkova, Louise Borreani, and Pat Rawson, and our industry reports.

What did prove a lot more popular was the beta version of our impact dashboard. It was built on the notion that the impact made by the average ReFi project alone was but a drop in the bucket. What the space really needed was the quantification of its collective impact. With that in mind, we set about determining relevant metrics, sourcing the project impact data, and wiring it up to a dashboard. For the first time that we know of, the ReFi space had the beginnings of the data aggregation seen on sites like DeFi Llama and L2Beat.

We eventually ran into a dilemma, however: how could the content and data coexist on the same site? Or, more specifically, which one should take precedent?

Once we understood that the data should lead and the content should support, we put our heads down and started building a new version of CARBON Copy with data as the star.

Here's a sneak peek:

We're really excited about how it's all come together over the past few months. Stay tuned for the launch announcement this coming week!

More details on what to expect from this new version will come your way following the launch.

Arkreen Raises Eight Figures

Congrats to our friends at Arkreen on their raise!

DePIN Energy Infrastructure Arkreen Secures Tens of Millions of Dollars In Strategic Investment from Nasdaq-Listed Company Robo.ai, Accelerating the Global Strategy and Industry Chain Synergy of Its Decentralized Green Energy Asset Network

September 18, 2025 - Arkreen, a pioneer in decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) energy solutions, announced today that it has secured tens of millions of dollars in strategic investment from Robo.ai, a Nasdaq-listed company. Hashkey and Hash Global are Arkreen's anchor Investors at its launch. This collaboration will accelerate Arkreen'

https://www.arkreen.com

Story We're Following

Grassroots Economics launches Sarafu Wallet.

Grassroots Economics

@grassEcon

Introducing the development of Sarafu Wallet: a public-good wallet for Celo + a new way to move value

We’re building where people already live economically ... neighbors helping neighbors. Sarafu Wallet is two things at once: a cryptowallet and a community credit rail.

33

5:44 PM • Sep 23, 2025

New Projects in Our Database

We've recently added the following projects:

• Higher Status Global builds smart fintech tools designed to unlock market liquidity and channel catalytic capital into global regenerative and climate innovation projects to accelerate their capacity to scale.

You can see the full database of projects here:

ReFi Projects | CARBON Copy

A curated database of projects operating in and adjacent to the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

https://carboncopy.news

ReFi Making Impact

On Tap

• More details about the new version of CARBON Copy

• A deep dive into our funding readiness framework

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

With much of the focus in ReFi on impact, we wanted to take a closer look at the revenue side of the equation. Specifically, what revenue models are in use and which projects are using them. The hope is that the analysis will provide inspiration for those projects that have not yet established a revenue model.

Read the full article 👇

Identifying ReFi Revenue Models

Trinity Morphy enumerates the revenue models currently employed by ReFi projects and teases further research into funding readiness.

https://carboncopy.news

In related news, as part of the Allo Research Quest Cohort 1, we aim to better understand the conditions that make a project financially sustainable. Our end goal is to develop a framework that articulates the concept of “funding readiness”, which we describe as the state in which a project is ready to take the leap to financial sustainability with the help of external capital. This very much ties in with the idea of a viable revenue model.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Story We're Following

Etherisc and eSusFarm Africa join forces to offer climate-resilient crop insurance to 50,000 Ugandan smallholder farmers

Etherisc

@etherisc

Etherisc has joined forces with @eSusFarm_Africa and Agro Consortium (AIC) to offer climate-resilient crop insurance via blockchain to 50,000 Ugandan smallholder farmers.

By combining real-time food production data, smart contracts, and weather index triggers, the

17

10:00 PM • Aug 15, 2025

New Projects in Our Database

We've recently added the following projects:

• Grow is an agriculture-focused, highly versatile blockchain meant for deep integrations across an entire ecosystem of AgTech opportunities.

You can see the full database of projects here:

ReFi Projects | CARBON Copy

A curated database of projects operating in and adjacent to the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

https://carboncopy.news

ReFi Making Impact

On Tap

• Some thoughts on funding readiness for ReFi projects

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

This week, we dive deeper into a platform developed by UNICEF, RLabs, DIDx, Goodwall, IXO World, and ZLTO, among others, to educate, train, and find employment for African youth.

The YOMA impact model follows a clear path: Education, Training, and Employment. It's designed to help young people who are not in school or working move toward meaningful jobs.

It starts with easy-to-access education through mobile phones. Once they finish these learning tasks, they move on to the training phase. As they grow their skills, they become ready for real job opportunities. In the final phase, employment, YOMA helps connect these young people to available jobs through the platform.

This creates a clear path from unemployment to a sustainable career.

Read the full article 👇

Exploring the Social Impact Side of ReFi with YOMA

Trinity Morphy takes a closer look at the Youth Agency Marketplace for Africans and its potential for social impact.

https://carboncopy.news

Story We're Following

Bloom Network releases report for Local Action Rewards round 1, US$343,000+ rewarded to people for commons care labour.

Bloom Network

@OurBloomNetwork

$343,920 Worth of Commons Care Labor Rewarded Through Revolutionary Regenerative Economic Protocol

11,464 hours of documented regenerative work
34 Local Bloom hubs
Gift-first economy in action

bloomnetwork.earth/view/bloom-net…

#RegenerativeEconomy #LocalAction #Philanthropy

12

9:12 PM • Aug 14, 2025

New Projects in Our Database

We've recently added the following projects:

• Source amplifies stories of regeneration that bring us together to reimagine the world we want live in.

You can see the full database of projects here:

ReFi Projects | CARBON Copy

A curated database of projects operating in and adjacent to the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

https://carboncopy.news

ReFi Making Impact

On Tap

• Using DeFi mechanisms for ReFi success

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

The Greenpill Network Dev Guild recently published a series about the concept of a "regenerative stack" that included a solution called squad staking. Designed as a means to unlock perpetual funding for public goods, it allows a group of people to collectively run an Ethereum validator cluster and earn rewards for securing the Ethereum network.

Armed with this knowledge, Trinity decided to take things a step further. What if, he wondered, people could simply contribute financially to a squad in the same way that they do with liquid staking? In other words, instead of meeting the technical requirements for squad staking, they could just help the squad accumulate the collateral needed to activate the clusters?

If things go well, the [regen squad] treasury could accumulate a meaningful pool of capital over time. For instance, 100 active squads contributing 0.18 ETH per year would amount to 18 ETH annually. In ten years, that is 180 ETH (~$630,000), without compounding. With compounding and protocol growth, that number could grow significantly higher. With more squads joining and APRs optimised across multiple staking protocols, the regen squad treasury could grow into a multi-million-dollar resource for impact. This is exactly what the regen movement needs right now because it offers a regenerative funding alternative to the current reliance on one-off grants or charity.

Read the full article 👇

Optimising the Squad Staking Model to Fund the Regen Movement

Trinity Morphy proposes a modification to the current squad staking model that would unlock funding at scale for the regen movement.

https://carboncopy.news

Story We're Following

Gaia AI and Regen Network announce partnership to build Regen AI

Announcing Regen AI

Gaia AI and Regen Network have officially partnered to launch Regen AI, a joint initiative to catalyze the regenerative finance (ReFi) movement using advanced AI systems.

https://paragraph.com

New Projects in Our Database

We've recently added the following projects:

• Gaia AI is building the universal environmental data legibility layer to seed the Symbiocene and exponentialise regenerative capital allocation.

• Somos Axolotl is spearheading Solana's involvement in the revitalisation of the axolotl salamander.

You can see the full database of projects here:

ReFi Projects | CARBON Copy

A curated database of projects operating in and adjacent to the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

https://carboncopy.news

ReFi Making Impact

On Tap

• We dive into the YOMA impact ecosystem

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

On blockchain's readiness:

"Many of the building blocks needed for a new environmental finance architecture—programmable registries, verifiable claims, composable markets, and multi-stakeholder governance—already exist and are actively being deployed. We’re still missing a few crucial primitives, such as location-aware dApps (see: Astral Protocol) and mass tokenisation of commodities, but this point feels moot. Overall, what remains underdeveloped is not the tech stack, but institutional readiness to use it."

On ecocapitalism 2.0:

"Ecocapitalism 2.0 proposes a different approach—one grounded in protocols, not paperwork. Thanks to crypto, we now have a global financial infrastructure that is radically accessible, programmable, and borderless by design. Anyone with a wallet can mint, govern, or trade green assets. Impact can be tokenised, verified onchain, and governed transparently through shared registries. Ecocapital no longer needs to wait for institutional approval—it can flow endogeneously and directly to regenerators, data providers, and stewards on the ground."

On the over-financialisation of nature:

"The critique of over-financialisation—the idea that ecosystems and biodiversity are being reductively abstracted into tradable assets—is both necessary and overdue. But it is important to recognise that nature has long been financialised through less visible means. Ecosystems are routinely embedded in economic calculations, property regimes, insurance models, and state-led valuations of land use, extractive potential, and risk. What blockchain-based systems make possible is not the initiation of this financialisation, but its unveiling."

This isn't one you'll want to miss. Read the full interview in two parts 👇

Louise Borreani and Pat Rawson of Ecofrontiers - Part 1

Trinity Morphy catches up with the authors of The Green Crypto Handbook to discuss ecocapitalism, the onchain environmental finance stack, and the maturity of blockchain.

https://carboncopy.news

Louise Borreani and Pat Rawson of Ecofrontiers - Part 2

The authors of The Green Crypto Handbook discuss the transition to onchain environmental finance, regulatory and narrative shifts, and the EU's recent nature credit announcement.

https://carboncopy.news

ReFi Roundtable Part 2 Hosted by Coral Tribe

Our co-founder, Kent Babin, was joined by Louise Borreani of Ecofrontiers, Matt Strachman of Greenpill Network, and Terex from Azos Finance to discuss The Green Crypto Handbook manuscript produced by Louise and her colleague Pat Rawson. Give it a listen!

Coral Tribe 🌊

@CoralTribeNFT

By popular demand, our Round Table returns - this time decoding the freshest industry insights to help climate-tech ventures break through and scale.

Join the discussion with industry legends:

x.com/i/spaces/1LyxB…

29

1:03 AM • Jul 16, 2025

Story We're Following

Ekonavi has been selected to work with Brazilian Central Bank to address challenge of impact capital allocation for sustainable farming.

Ekonavi

@ekonavi_com

Proud to be part of the 7th edition of Lift Lab, run by @InovacaoFenas and the @BancoCentralBR! Our working proposal: Sustainable Financial Models for Ecological Development in Brazil

5

7:04 PM • Jul 29, 2025

New Projects in Our Database

We've recently added the following projects:

• Resilio delivers insights on innovations regenerating the world.

• EcoYield tokenises solar, wind, hydro, and other sustainable assets into on-chain vaults, delivering stable returns from electricity sales.

• AfriCycle is a blockchain-powered circular economy platform Incentivising recycling and sustainability in Africa.

• NCU is an innovative financial mechanism that converts ESG investments into tradable Natural Capital Unit tokens that allow all to invest directly in ecosystem restoration.

You can see the full database of projects here:

ReFi Projects | CARBON Copy

A curated database of projects operating in and adjacent to the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

https://carboncopy.news

ReFi Making Impact

On Tap

• Trinity Morphy looks at the advent of squad staking and what it means for ReFi

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

1) Identify and track key metrics for the ReFi space
2) Use the data to support our State of ReFi 2025 report
3) Socialize the concept and get feedback

Ten months later, we feel pretty good about our progress towards those goals. So much so that, after getting some grant funding in the GG23 dApps & Apps round, we decided to push ahead with the next version.

Based on feedback, there are few features we know we need to have:

1) Weekly and monthly change indicators
2) Drill down by project and category
3) A single high-level metric indicating the total funding flows facilitated by ReFi projects
4) Chain ecosystem breakdown

Ultimately, we want to work towards what DeFiLlama is building: a comprehensive and interactive dataset for ReFi.

Challenges remain, of course. The off-chain nature of impact data makes it harder for projects to track, let alone report via API. On-chain data is easy to track, but not if projects aren't making their smart contract addresses publicly available.

In terms of timeline, we hope to get the first version of the next iteration up in the next month or so. We're also looking at launching this version under a new name!

ReFi Roundtable Hosted by Coral Tribe

Our co-founder, Kent Babin, was joined by ReFi DAO's Monty Merlin Bryant, Regen Network's David Fortson, and ReFi Medellin's Tereza Bizkova for a discussion on X about the state of ReFi. Give it a listen!

Coral Tribe 🌊

@CoralTribeNFT

What’s going to unlock ReFi’s next leap? Come learn from the industry legends.

Tune in for a discussion about The State of ReFi 2025 Report.

We will discuss AI, user traction, and regenerative agriculture & so much more.

x.com/i/spaces/1ypKd…

40

7:53 PM • Jun 25, 2025

Plans for a second edition are already in the works, so so tuned!

Story We're Following

GSR Foundation backs Mercy Corps Ventures via Lido Impact Staking to advance new model for philanthropic capital deployment

GSR Foundation Backs Mercy Corps Ventures via Lido Impact Staking, Advancing a New Model for...

The GSR Foundation has announced its latest initiative as an Institutional Impact Staker by supporting Mercy Corps Ventures through the Lido Impact Staking mechanism. This partnership marks a...

https://medium.com

New Projects in Our Database

We've recently added the following projects:

• Gleam is a conservation-focused technology company leveraging the speed, security, and eco-efficiency of Solana to fund and scale real-world environmental solutions.

• Lido Impact Staking lets users stake Ethereum and gift a share of returns to fund social impact.

You can see the full database of projects here:

ReFi Projects | CARBON Copy

A curated database of projects operating in and adjacent to the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

https://carboncopy.news

ReFi Making Impact

We've added ReFi Medellin's UBI program and VeBetter's grants to our dashboard!

On Tap

• Trinity Morphy takes a closer look at "squad" Ethereum staking for regen communities

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

As we like to do for climate solutions rounds, we conducted an analysis to better understand the projects involved, any donor preferences, and relevant trends. This time, we handed the baton to Trinity Morphy.

Here's one of the many interesting tidbits he uncovered. This one regards donor preference for Web3 vs. non-Web3 projects:

This round included a notable number of non-Web3-native projects, which initially led me to expect a funding bias in favour of Web3-native initiatives. However, the data suggests otherwise. Non-Web3-native projects received more funding on average—$29,255.18 from 114 donors—compared to Web3-native projects, which averaged $24,955.51 from 111 donors. Despite the minimal difference in donor count, non-Web3-native projects received approximately $5,000 more per project.

Read Trinity's full analysis👇

Breaking Down the Octant Epoch 7 Climate Solutions Funding Round | CARBON Copy

Trinity Morphy provides his analysis of the recent round by Octant and Climate Coordination Network.

https://carboncopy.news

Story We're Following

Empowa is on a mission to transform the climate-smart affordable housing market in Africa through digital innovation. This latest announcement is an exciting next step. We hope the model can be replicated elsewhere.

Empowa🏠- LSPO Ticker: EMPL

@empowa_io

A major milestone for Casa Real!

Yesterday marked the groundbreaking of the first phase of the ambitious 25,000-home project in Maraza, Mozambique!

Casa Real has been contracted to kick off phase 1 of the project. More developers will join over time.

Each new family

105

7:53 PM • Jun 13, 2025

New Projects in Our Database

We've recently added the following projects:

• BigWater aims to boost good health and wellness on the planet by operating a global footprint of DePIN devices that encourage actions in support of sustainability.

• Closer is the operating system for regenerative communities.

• eSusFarm® is an agri-fintech that specialises in tracking and providing advanced agricultural statistical data to smallholder farmers.

• Coala Pay is enabling better aid for everybody.

• Chaîne Research is a non-profit org that develops software for climate action.

• The Decentralized Food Security Network (DFSN) seeks ways to decentralise food security by using blockchain technology.

• Búan is building a network of land owners optimising for biodiversity in perpetuity.

• Ginakev Farms creates environmental and social impact and economic opportunities through sustainable and regenerative agroforestry.

• Oxana is building an infrastructure layer for the climate economy.

You can see the full database of projects here:

ReFi Projects | CARBON Copy

A curated database of projects operating in and adjacent to the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

https://carboncopy.news

ReFi Making Impact

We've also updated the Impact Feed to feature project updates directly from Karma GAP:

On Tap

• Teasing our plans for the next version of the ReFi Impact Dashboard

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

Things didn't really go as planned.

DeFi arrived with its global liquidity pools. CoFi solutions proved far too expensive and difficult to market (not to mention the usability issues). The hope, we guess, was that the unbanked would "figure out" how to use DeFi services for better financial inclusion. What we see today, however, is a disconnect between DeFi and the unbanked. One could argue that the gap is even wider now than it was in 2020.

So, Trinity Morphy decided to look more closely at the existing CoFi mechanisms and how they might be leveraged by regen communities to bridge the gap between DeFi and the unbanked. Here's a sneak peek:

A successful CoFi approach would stimulate local economies while driving profits for these collectives, earning them greater acceptance and respect in their local communities. The collectives, in turn, could leverage these mutual acceptance to: onboard more community members who will donate during grant rounds, increase matching funds, bring in additional capital to circulate within the local economy, and ultimately generate more revenue.

Read the full article 👇

Collaborative Finance for Regen Collectives | CARBON Copy

Trinity Morphy dives into an unheralded approach to grassroots finance and lays out potential solutions for regen collectives.

https://carboncopy.news

Story We're Following

Removing friction from the donation process is considered critical to the success of Web3-powered donations. Capitalising on existing UX patterns made successful in Web2 seems like a great place to start.

Regen Starter 🌱⚡

@refistarter

We won 1st place!
#SwipePad by @ReFiStarter took thespot in the @MentoLabs Stablecoin Hackathon on @Celo (Open Track), running on @minipay
Kudos to team @ottox & @ozkite for making global donations as easy as swiping & building the future of on-chain funding.
We’re getting

13

4:03 PM • May 13, 2025

New Fundraising Data

We've added fundraising data for Gitcoin Grants 23 and Octant Epoch 7 to our project database and dashboard!

We're Back on X

Our account was suspended last July and we haven't been able to create a new one until now.

Follow us at https://x.com/CC_ReFi_News

ReFi Making Impact

On Tap at CARBON Copy

• Teasing our plans for the next version of the ReFi Impact Dashboard

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

The conclusion we reached was the idea that, broadly speaking, there are two types of users: upstream and downstream. Upstream users contribute capital, downstream users consume it. Projects, in turn, can target one or both.

To illustrate, consider the projects Cleanify and $EARTH. Cleanify is a good example of a downstream-focused project. It gets funding from VeBetter and then rewards users for collecting waste. $EARTH is a good example of an upstream-focused project. To get capital for impact investments, it relies on users buying $EARTH tokens with USD stablecoins.

As of writing, Cleanify has over 78,000 users while $EARTH has 210 holders. The discrepancy speaks to the difficulty of getting people to fork over dollars.

Digging a bit deeper, there are a few other reasons why downstream users are easier to adopt beside the obvious one that they are getting rewarded. The first is that they are typically the ones dealing with the impact of climate change and/or social inequality. There is added incentive to collect waste, register for UBI, or sell their solar energy data. The second is that regulation is barely a consideration. Projects can launch and iterate apps a lot faster than those needing licence to attract capital from upstream users.

The third is usability. Downstream users can have much of the tech abstracted away so that they feel like they're using a familiar app. Upstream users, on the contrary, are more likely to be presented with services that require knowledge of cryptocurrency, Web3 wallets, and decentralised finance (DeFi) concepts. While by no means the end of the world, it's an added barrier making it difficult for ReFi projects to adopt upstream users.

Another way to illustrate upstream-downstream concept is by looking at projects that target both types of users. Ecological credit projects are probably the best example. They rely on downstream users to do the work to generate the credits and upstream users to buy the credits. If one doesn't pull its weight, it's difficult for the project to survive. A closer look at the fairly recent closures of Solid World, Ivy Protocol, and Coorest tells us that it was the lack of upstream interest that made it difficult to survive.

The bottom line for ReFi projects targeting upstream users is that it comes down to usability and narrative. In other words, make it as easy as possible for users to part with their dollars and give them a strong reason to do so. (But, as we saw last week, perhaps fighting climate change isn't motivational enough.) For projects targeting downstream users, it comes down to incentive/reward sustainability. It's great to be able to pay people to make positive impact, but it's difficult to sustain without some kind of revenue. The same can be said for projects targeting both.

Story We're Following

UNHCR and Lido Impact Staking to allow users to stake $ETH and donate their rewards to support displaced communities globally.

CC ReFi News

@CC_ReFi_News

𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬: 𝐋𝐢𝐝𝐨 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐠𝐞𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲

The UN Refugee Agency (@UNHCR_CH_Innov) innovation branch has partnered with

10

8:16 AM • Apr 24, 2025

Thank you for your support!

Huge thanks to everyone that supported us in the Gitcoin Grants 23 dApps and Apps and Regen Coordination Global rounds! 💚

We're Back on X

Our account was suspended last July and we haven't been able to create a new one until now.

Follow us at https://x.com/CC_ReFi_News

ReFi Making Impact

We added Cleanify's waste collection data to our Impact Dashboard:

On Tap at CARBON Copy

• Trinity Morphy uncovers the YOMA impact ecosystem

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

ReFi's answer, largely, has been to try to mobilise "non-traditional" capital - that is, capital not from traditional ecological and social impact donors - to grassroots projects through vehicles such as ecological credits, microfinance, investment instruments, grants, and tokens. This answer is based on the fundamental assumption that people and small businesses have the same passion for impact that we do, that they are willing to foot the bill for a problem they didn't necessarily cause.

On the surface, this doesn't sound misguided. Survey after survey suggests that people are in fact worried about climate change. What is a lot less clear, however, is to what degree that worry motivates action. According to the Peoples' Climate Vote in 2024, not a lot. 80% of respondents think their government should strengthen climate change commitments and 70% think governments, big business, and the UN have had the most impact on climate change. In other words, the problem is well beyond the power of any individual to solve.

This is a problem for ReFi. If the very sources of capital ReFi is targeting to fund grassroots initiatives are of the belief that responsibility lies with the government and big business, where does that leave the us?

It was initially thought that financial incentives would be enough to convince people, but then we ran into that other prickly issue of Web3 usability and regulation. Even if someone wanted to provide capital, we don't make it easy for them. And yet, it's the problem we spend most of our time on because we are sure that people think about impact the way we do.

What's becoming increasingly clear is that we need to change our approach. ReFi solutions are much easier sell to downstream beneficiaries than to upstream capital sources, yet our messaging to both is the same. This has to change. We need new narratives and solutions that are not built on existing assumptions.

We may uncover some hard truths throughout the process, but at least we'll have a better understanding of who is willing to fund the impact we are working so hard to achieve.

Story We're Following

Mercy Corps Ventures is at the bleeding edge of stablecoin adoption in places where the impact will be most greatly felt.

CC ReFi News

@CC_ReFi_News

𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬: 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐬 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐟𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧

@MCSocialVenture, in partnership with the Community Driven Development Organisation and @HesabPay_,

1

12:18 PM • Apr 18, 2025

Thank you for your support!

Huge thanks to everyone that supported us in the Gitcoin Grants 23 dApps and Apps and Regen Coordination Global rounds! 💚

We're Back on X

Our account was suspended last July and we haven't been able to create a new one until now.

Follow us at https://x.com/CC_ReFi_News

ReFi Making Impact

From our Impact Dashboard:

On Tap at CARBON Copy

• Trinity Morphy uncovers the YOMA impact ecosystem

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

But there is a fundamental problem:

How to ensure that there is enough revenue to continuously pay the rewards?

While this isn't an issue for some crypto projects, it has become a major thorn in the side of ReFi projects using the X-to-Earn model. When the desired outcome is impact, revenue can be hard to come by. Users are not paying customers, after all, but beneficiaries. So where's the revenue supposed to come from?

Our Trinity Morphy tried to find out.

Read the article 👇

A Deep Dive into the Economics of ReFi X-to-Earn Projects | CARBON Copy

Trinity Morphy explores the X-to-Earn concept, its potential for financial and impact sustainability, and possible revenue models.

https://carboncopy.news

Support Us in Gitcoin Grants 23

We're in 2 fundraising rounds for GG23! Only 24 hours left to donate!

Dapps and Apps

Proceeds from this round will go to connecting more sources to our ReFi Impact Dashboard and publishing an Web3 tooling educational series in partnership with the GreenPill Writers Guild!

Regen Coordination Global

This round will help us pursue collaboration opportunities with great orgs such as @refidao @greenpillnetwork @maearth and others! We have some exciting things planned including Local ReFi Toolkit Playbooks and an ergodic ecosystem investment pilot!

With quadratic funding, even a $1 contribution can go a long way. 🙏

We're Back on X

Our account was suspended last July and we haven't been able to create a new one until now.

Follow us at https://x.com/CC_ReFi_News

ReFi Making Impact

From our Impact Dashboard:

On Tap at CARBON Copy

• Is the real battle convincing people to care about climate change?

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

On the surface, the logic appears sound. Degens are crypto fluent and hold serious on-chain wealth; ReFi projects require crypto fluency and need users with on-chain capital. A veritable match made in heaven.

If only it were that simple.

The problem is there's a big assumption being made that tends to get overlooked. It's that degens are lining up to do what's best for the environment and society but are simply lacking the services that let them do it. Ergo, if ReFi projects were to create those services, they'd be doing degens a favour. The money would start flowing and we wouldn't be writing this newsletter.

Alas, this has been a course-altering assumption. Project after project has implemented features they assume will attract degen money, only to realise that no ReFi yield will ever match what's available in DeFi. (On a side note, if we're out here trying to maximise yield, we're doing it wrong.)

There was even an attempt last year to launch a token with similar mechanics to the $DEGEN token popular on decentralised social media network Farcaster. Despite much hype, the token hasn't yet been launched. And while the project remains a going concern, as per its founder, it has taken nearly a year of work to design something that doesn't rely exclusively on degens for success.

The assumption has also shifted focus away from usability and accessibility. When projects optimise for degens, they take the single-most important step for granted: onboarding. It's something that has plagued all of Web3, but is particularly poignant for ReFi because of its off-chain impact. If projects are going to operate in both worlds, onboarding should be at the top of the list of priorities.

Not that there is an obvious alternative segment, at least not for all types of projects. Some are clearer than others. Projects offering retail investment instruments, for example, can take inspiration from companies like RealT who have found a market for investments paying 6-12% per annum.

What we do know is that crypto fluency and wealth shouldn't be the first prerequisites projects optimise for. Taking a more inclusive approach to target segmentation will ultimately result in better services accessible to more people. It wouldn't surprise us if the people out there most likely to be a source of funding for ReFi don't actually know it yet.

Tereza Bizkova Interviews Ethereum's Devansh Mehta for HackerNoon

Our friend and frequent CARBON Copy contributor, Tereza, talks funding open-source software with the Ethereum Foundation’s AI x Public Goods Governance Lead.

Here's a short preview:

Is this what you’re trying to achieve with deep funding, the model you’re working on?

Yes! The core problem deep funding addresses is how to fund projects that create value without generating revenue. In a corporate setting, you have cost centers and profit centers. Twitter’s ad team is a profit center—it makes money and is easy to measure. But something like Community Notes is a cost center. It improves the product for everyone, but it doesn’t directly generate revenue.

Still, executives can allocate budget to it from the ad team, even if that team objects. But that kind of internal reallocation doesn’t exist in open source. Companies like Google earn revenue from user-facing services but rely on a stack of open source repos that go unfunded. There’s no automatic way to redirect revenue from profit to cost centers.

Deep funding is one way to fix that. It creates a dependency graph—basically, a map of which projects rely on which open source repos. Then, when revenue comes in, it’s distributed across the graph through smart contracts.

Read the full interview 👇

You Built It. Now Get Paid. Ethereum's Devansh Mehta on Fixing Open Source Funding | HackerNoon

Discover how Ethereum's Devansh Mehta is rethinking open-source funding using AI, blockchain, and deep funding models-no grant applications required.

https://hackernoon.com

Support Us in Gitcoin Grants 23

We've been accepted into 2 fundraising rounds for GG23!

Dapps and Apps

Proceeds from this round will go to connecting more sources to our ReFi Impact Dashboard and publishing an Web3 tooling educational series in partnership with the GreenPill Writers Guild!

Regen Coordination Global

This round will help us pursue collaboration opportunities with great orgs such as @refidao @greenpillnetwork @maearth and others! We have some exciting things planned including Local ReFi Toolkit Playbooks and an ergodic ecosystem investment pilot!

With quadratic funding, even a $1 contribution can go a long way. 🙏

We're Back on X

Our account was suspended last July and we haven't been able to create a new one until now.

Follow us at https://x.com/CC_ReFi_News

ReFi Making Impact

From our Impact Dashboard:

On Tap at CARBON Copy

• Next Edition: Incentive distribution for ReFi projects

More From Us

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

Trinity Morphy wanted to find out why that is. What has been holding ReFi projects back? His conclusion: an Unholy Trinity of sorts. Low user adoption, undercapitalisation, and lack of attention.

ReFi projects struggle to generate revenue or attract investors, leading to funding shortages. Limited funds restrict marketing capabilities, making it difficult to compete for visibility and attention. Without awareness, potential users never discover the solution, reinforcing low adoption and the cycle continues. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle where each problem exacerbates the others.

Not dissimilar to startups in other industries, true, but ReFi is unique in that it is the one crypto sector actively trying to bridge on-chain actions with off-chain impact.

First, using ReFi solutions requires going through a longer learning curve which involves learning to use Web3 wallets on the crypto side and learning to enjoy seemingly mundane activities like cleanups and tree-planting on the sustainability side. Furthermore, the issue of misaligned incentives across both sectors create friction, as crypto's short-term profit-driven culture often clashes with the long-term impact goals of the sustainability sector. Finally, there’s the difficulty of addressing dual narrative requirements, needing to effectively communicate their value to both the crypto and sustainability communities, which often have differing expectations and priorities.

A long, hard road indeed. But Trinity has some solutions. Read on 👇 to find out.

ReFi's Unholy Trinity | CARBON Copy

Trinity Morphy explains why ReFi projects struggle, and what they can do about it.

https://carboncopy.news

Only 2 days left in the fundraising round. A huge thank-you to everyone that has donated so far. If you like the work we do, we'd sincerely appreciate a small contribution. With quadratic funding, even a $1 contribution can go a long way. 🙏

Our account was suspended last July and we haven't been able to create a new one until now.

Follow us at https://x.com/CC_ReFi_News

From our Impact Dashboard:

• Next Edition: Should ReFi be trying to convert degens?

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

It's an excellent piece by two of ReFi's sharpest analytical minds; the kind of research we need more of to help people understand blockchain's role in actual climate action.

The first thing that sticks out is Glow's unique economic model:

At the core of Glow’s economic model is the commitment of solar farms to give 100% of their electricity revenue (paid in USDC: a tokenised US-dollar equivalent) to the protocol as a fee. This is a fundamental joining requirement that ensures that solar farms have long-term skin in the game. With this collectivisation mechanism, Glow’s primary constraint becomes the number of solar farms it can attract. It serves to align the individual financial incentives of solar farms with the protocol’s collective goals of increasing solar capacity and generating carbon avoidance credits.

The idea that a solar plant would give up 100% of its revenue to join the protocol seems unusual at first glance. But look more closely and you'll find that the individual incentives are commensurate with the ceded revenue.

One other snippet that caught our eye:

At its heart, Glow seeks to eliminate subsidies for already profitable solar farms while boosting those farms that need assistance. Its performance-based, collectivised reward system incentivises efficiency above all else. Nevertheless, solar farms that produce more energy or optimise resources earn greater rewards, establishing a meritocratic base that fosters true competition.

This is an important feature of blockchain-based economies. Incentives and subsidies can be automated based on a set of conditions decided by the network's governance mechanism.

The question for Glow, like any project relying on a token as a reward medium, is what will happen when the token, and thus the dollar value of the reward, loses value. Will solar farms still find themselves in a collective mood or will they circle the wagons and keep the revenue to themselves?

Something to keep a close eye on as Glow evolves and the market fluctuates.

You can read the full article here:

Decentralising the Planet's Powerhouse: The Promises of Blockchain-based Solar Production | CARBON Copy

Louise Borreani and Pat Rawson of Ecofrontiers explore Energy DePIN's potential to advance solar markets with a deep dive into Glow, the protocol driving solar energy expansion.

https://carboncopy.news

Note: the article was sponsored by LFGlow, a decentralised community supporting the Glow Protocol. 

Starting today until April 1st, we'll be participating in a fundraising round on Giveth. If you like the work we do, we'd sincerely appreciate a small contribution. With quadratic funding, even a $1 contribution can go a long way. 🙏

Our account was suspended last July and we haven't been able to create a new one until now.

Follow us at https://x.com/CC_ReFi_News

From our Impact Dashboard:

• Next Edition: A new project problem-solving methodology from Trinity Morphy

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

We unfortunately had to postpone the publishing of the Glow deep dive, but hope to get it out this week.

With Gitcoin Grants 23 (GG23) applications opening today, the ReFi space finds itself once again without a dedicated funding round. Some projects will be eligible for the open-source software (OSS) rounds, but most will find themselves looking for alternative grant opportunities (of which there are few).

One of the things we've been working on this year is the concept of ergodic ecosystem investing (EEI). More on that in a future edition, we promise, but for now, we want to talk about syndicates as a precursor to an ergodic ecosystem. Specifically, a group of projects applying for grants as one and splitting the proceeds.

The idea is attractive for a couple of reasons:

1) It increases the donor pool and decreases the shilling burden

2) The amount received per project will be, on average, higher than if the projects go it alone

An example would be a syndicate of impact verification projects. They are all working towards the same goal and would see a net benefit by banding together. And with tools like Splits that automate the allocation of funds per project, the logistics of syndicates aren't as intimidating as they might seem. As far as we can tell, the most challenging parts are figuring out how to split the proceeds and how to handle conflict/poor performance.

The reality is that ReFi projects are going to have to start innovating and experimenting with how they apply for grant funding. We, for example, find ourselves dreaming of a ReFi content syndicate. It tends to be difficult to raise funds as a content producer, both because there aren't many grant rounds available and because the work often isn't valued as much as the projects making direct impact. Together, though, our impact is much greater and our grant vector much wider.

It remains a dream for now but it's something we'd slowly like to work towards this year. We will be sure to share our learnings along the way in case other projects would like to do the same.

Starting today until April 1st, we'll be participating in a fundraising round on Giveth. If you like the work we do, we'd sincerely appreciate a small contribution. With quadratic funding, even a $1 contribution can go a long way. 🙏

Our account was suspended last July and we haven't been able to create a new one until now.

Follow us at https://x.com/CC_ReFi_News

From our Impact Dashboard:

• Next Edition: A deep dive into Glow by Louise Borreani and Pat Lawson of Ecofrontiers

• In Two Weeks: Idea to impact with Trinity Morphy

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

The State of ReFi Report | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

One of the things were considering for this year's report is a redefinition and recategorisation of the ReFi space. With the "regen" movement taking on a lot of what ReFi has embodied over the past five years, our thinking is that it's time for us to narrow our definition to focus on how ecological and social impact gets funded. The recategorisation would then reflect this new definition. At the centre would be the projects facilitating the funding. The surrounding layer would be all of the support infrastructure that makes ReFi possible.

We see two major advantages to this new approach:

1) ReFi should be easier to explain to people outside the space - We've never had a commonly accepted definition of ReFi that has been easy to describe to people unfamiliar with Web3. A narrower definition would change that.

2) ReFi's impact should be easier to quantify - How much funding was facilitated and what was the downstream impact?

We're still debating the changes, however. It may turn out that this really isn't what the space needs at this time.

One thing we do want to focus on is what ReFi has accomplished over the past year. Call it a ReFi Health Check. We'll also look at whether the big questions from last year's report were answered, project forward for the rest of 2025, and pose new questions that we think need to be answered.

We plan to have the report published in early April. Newsletter subscribers will be the first to get access, so subscribe now if you haven't done so already.

Louise Borreani and Pat Rawson of Ecofrontiers do a deep dive into Glow, the solar energy DePIN that recently raised US$30 million in venture funding.

Publishing Monday, March 10th on CARBON Copy!

Our account was suspended last July and we haven't been able to create a new one until now.

Follow us at https://x.com/CC_ReFi_News

From our Impact Dashboard:

• Next Week: A deep dive into Glow by Louise Borreani and Pat Lawson of Ecofrontiers

• In Two Weeks: Idea to impact with Trinity Morphy

Visit us at to get more news, analysis, and data from the Web3 regenerative finance (ReFi) space.

Leading ReFi Information Platform | CARBON Copy

The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

You'll also find our curated ReFi projects database and other ecosystem goodies.

It's sad, really. What is fundamentally a fundraising tool has instead become a way for insiders to purloin "dumb" money from people who buy in at the top thinking the price will continue to go up. The way it works is remarkably simple. The insiders get together on a Telegram group, agree to pump a memecoin at a specific time, and then pull out once the price reaches a certain level. Anyone buying a ticket to the moon becomes "exit liquidity" for the insiders.

Few in ReFi have attempted to leverage memecoins as a fundraising tool and it's not hard to understand why. Capturing "dumb" money isn't in the spirit of regeneration. As is so often the case in any financial market, it feels wrong for people in the know to take advantage of those who are not.

At the same time, ReFi seems to be taking a very narrow approach to memecoins. Instead of innovating on perhaps the best fundraising tool out there right now, we shy away. We ignore tools in the Farcaster and Solana ecosystems that allow people to deploy memecoins on bonding curves and pass on trading fees to the creator; we avoid using our creativity to produce memes that have staying power and evolve into communities. Instead, we maintain that memecoins should be avoided, despite a desire to lure degen capital into the space.

There is, of course, no guarantee of success. But why aren't we experimenting like we did with NFTs? What's holding us back from finding the ways memecoins can power ecological and social impact?

At the very least, it would help if we stopped seeing memecoins as a casino and started seeing them as a tool. Maybe then the innovation would start to flow.

We'll leave you with a short anecdote:

We once had an idea here at CARBON Copy to launch climate memecoins as a way to raise money for quadratic funding rounds that fund climate solutions. Instead of trying to source the funding from selling the tokens, however, we wanted to allocate 99% of the trading fees to the funding rounds. Our share of the tokens would be burned, so as to remove the possibility of "rugging" the market. We eventually decided against the plan because of resource constraints, but it remains in the back of our mind.

Trinity invited ReFi's Mr. Memecoin to discuss memecoins as a fundraising tool for ReFi projects.

ReFi and the Memecoin Mania | CARBON Copy

This edition features James Magee as he discusses the role of memecoins in fundraising for ReFi projects.

https://carboncopy.news

The ReFi Weekly happens every Friday. Follow Trinity on X to get notified of future Spaces.

Great to see the Bybit validate EthicHub and its regenerative agricultural lending model with US$1 million in funding. EthicHub has already facilitated nearly US$5 million in loans to over 500 farmers in Latin America. The additional funding will only help scale the impact.

Bybit Invests $1M in EthicHub Through Blockchain for Good Alliance to Drive Agricultural Finance for Global Farming Communities

PRNewswire/ -- Bybit, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, proudly announces a $1 million impact investment in EthicHub,...

https://www.prnewswire.com

From our Impact Dashboard:

• Next Week: Going from idea to real-world impact

• In Two Weeks: Previewing the State of ReFi Report for 2025

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The preeminent source of ReFi news, information, and analysis.

https://carboncopy.news

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