Happy Thursday,
I am pleased to share that Aera Force will work more closely with the ReFi DAO team going forward. We’ve long admired their mission, and are excited to grow the #ReFi ecosystem with them long-term.
If you’re a founder or engineer, we highly recommend you join their DAO — and read their regular founder-focused newsletter (the ReFi Roundup). They have exciting plans to launch an accelerator focused on MRV solutions and to broadly support founders leveraging web3 for climate challenges.
Our newsletter will continue to serve investors — collating fundraising news and quality content — while they focus on helping founders thrive in this ecosystem.
Here’s your regular ecosystem snapshot:
Global Ecosystem News 🌊
Fundraises
🪨 EcoWatt, a new cryptocurrency backed by the value of carbon credits, secured $110M from GEM Digital.
🌱 The ReFi DAO raised $55,882 through a Gitcoin grant. The funding came from 1489 different contributors!
⚡ Plug4Us, an app using blockchain payments to allow EV drivers access to residential electric charging stations, raised its $20,000 target on a Kickstarter campaign.
Ecosystem News
💰 Filecoin Green, an initiative to decarbonize Filecoin’s decentralized data-storage network, announced the launch of its $1M Regenerative Finance Green Grants Program to fund global ReFi initiatives.
🏭 Polygon, an Ethereum-compatible layer two blockchain, claimed it reached carbon neutrality by permanently retiring $400,000 in carbon credits to offset 90,000 tonnes of greenhouse gasses emitted since its inception.
(Writer’s warning: given long-standing issues in the carbon credit market, buying offsets is unlikely to compensate for the effect of Polygon’s emitted carbon directly, nor is it necessarily the best use of capital for the climate. Additionally, it appears Polygon purchased credits at a lower cost than most high-quality market rates.)
🌅 LightDefi, a token that finances new solar power plants, registered the land deed for their Solar Power Plant on the blockchain BNB Chain, making it the first similar plot of land registered on-chain.
📸 Creator.co, an influencer marketing platform, has partnered with Veritree to plant one million trees in Madagascar when it launches its Creator Passport NFT.
🗞️ Forbes interviewed the Gitcoin DAO founder on the emerging #ReFi field in crypto.
Newly Launched Projects 🚀
🚀 Shell, Accenture, and American Express Global Business Travel launched the blockchain-enabled Avelia, a platform that lets business travelers purchase sustainable aviation fuel.
📈 Senken, built by the former head of blockchain at EY Germany, launched a carbon credit market built upon Toucan Protocol’s infrastructure.
🌏 The DSC Foundation of Dubai is launching the Dubai Sunshine Token to “create a new energy market."
🪴 RMRK, a platform that allows developers to create NFTs, has announced the second phase of the Moonglade project, leveraging blockchain to support a reforestation project in Portugal.
Weekend Reading 📚
1 - GreenPill — how crypto’s coordination of ownership can unlock a better society": Many of web3’s long-term benefits come from its ability to improve group coordination. The book here outlines various methods for improving coordination with crypto. Groups will easily vote on projects they would like to fund. New cryptocurrencies like Celo allow us to program our values into money (i.e., by purchasing carbon credits with transaction fees). And generally, these factors will allow humanity to value more than solely financial returns. As a result, many more entrepreneurs will focus on creating previously un-profitable public goods.
Want my takeaways? I wrote this Twitter thread:
2 - What are blockchain bridges — and their security challenges? In the world of cryptocurrency, a variety of blockchains exist. In #ReFi, the Ethereum, Chia, Cosmos, and Celo blockchains are particularly important. Yet, each operates by varying rules (and token values). “Bridges” help currencies or contracts interact. Typically, a bridge will lock/burn/create tokens according to a set of rules. Bridges have become increasingly important as decentralized finance grows in value. However, hackers love to target them for security flaws. The article above profiles how the mechanisms work and how hackers have targeted them.
3 - A high-quality thread discussing the current crypto market:
Other fun content
Introducing climate tech <> web3 | why you should get to know each other: A friend of Aera Force and traditional climate-tech investor, Ikarus Janzen, wrote this article for his traditional-climate friends.
If you’re a founder or engineer interested in tackling climate challenges with web3, you should check out the ReFi DAO’s Blog.
If you’d like a regular analysis of on-chain carbon markets, Toucan Protocol runs the amazing deCarbonized newsletter.
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If you have questions about the terms above (i.e., what is #ReFi), feedback, or article suggestions, we’ll happily reply to any direct emails.
With love,
Alex Filotimo and Juan Assad from the Aera Force DAO
Researching web3 venture investments for a flourishing future
PS If you want to contribute research into web3-climate investing, Alex created this open-source insights repository.
This newsletter is for educational purposes only. While we strive for accurate and unbiased information, none of it is verified or intended to help as investment advice.