🌍 Web3 for Climate #15
Discover more from Venturing in #ReFi — Web3 for Climate
🌍 Web3 for Climate #15
Your 5-minute deep-dive into regenerative web3 startups
Happy Thursday,
This is my first crypto winter and I have been truly dejected to see the variety of forced sales and lost savings amongst everyday retail investors.
Some of the stories are tragic, many were preventable, and all of them call upon us founders to clearly discuss the nascent industry’s risks.
In that vein, the Aera Force DAO is openly discussing bear market challenges — and we hope you enjoy this week’s curated articles. They offer helpful warnings and insights from a (well-written) historical basis.
Here’s your regular snapshot of #ReFi investing:
Global Ecosystem News 🌊
Newly Launched Projects 🚀
🏭 Plugin’s oracle platform partnered with Inclusive Growth Chain to track global air pollution data.
🧑🌾 Bayer’s Innovation Fund is launching TierraSpec, a tool that will help farmers monitor and verify the carbon sequestration in their soil.
🪴 CleanCarbon is launching a token on PancakeSwap to fund the development of a technology that converts waste and used tires into energy.
Ecosystem News
♻️ Aura Blockchain Consortium, founded by LVMH, is helping track the sustainability of clothing materials for Prince Harry’s Fashion Task Force.
⏰ Ethereum is delaying the protocol’s “difficulty bomb” until August to give developers more time to shift to proof-of-stake. What is the difficulty bomb?
🌐 American Carbon Registry, one of the largest carbon credit registries, is examining how to tokenize its traditional credits.
🤝 The VC Fund Nemesis Technologies announced it will compensate for its emissions by purchasing credits from JustCarbon’s tokenized registry.
🌲 Kaloscope, a social media metaverse, launched digital (NFT) trees that fund and directly link to trees in the “Great Green Wall” project of the Saharan desert.
🚓 Deutsche Bank was raided over greenwashing claims after a former money manager reported that the firm exaggerated the sustainability credentials of its funds.
Events
🌏 ReFi DAO is hosting an online event to help people understand the emerging state of MRV (measurement, reporting, and verification) for web3 nature-based credits. Tune in on June 24th from 16:00-18:00 BST.
Fundraises
None this week.
Curated Insights 📚
1 - What Bear Markets Look Like: Fred Wilson’s article from the 2018 crypto bear market rings as true today as it did back then. In this 3-minute read, the legendary venture capitalist shares his experiences in the 2001 tech bubble, provides historical context, and warns entrepreneurs about the tough times ahead. Every one of his predictions came true.
For founders and investors, I also loved this Twitter thread covering human psychology and bear-market stages:
2 - Major Web3 Backer a16z Sees ‘Winter,’ ‘Dark Days’ Ahead for Crypto: This 5-minute read examines a16z’s annual report. The fund emphasizes that they remain focused on crypto’s long-term potential, that the crash is a recorrection of the speculation, and that the industry is still akin to the early days of the internet (where immensely valuable products did not emerge until 2008). However, the article’s reporter critiques the scams and insider trading prevalent across the industry. Meanwhile, a16z also announced its new $4.5B fund.
3 - The Promises and Pitfalls of Regenerative Finance | Curve Labs: I highly recommend this article — but only for founders and investors deeply embedded in #ReFi natural-capital projects. Curve Labs carefully combines their web3 experience with analyses of ecological science to discuss many prevalent, misunderstood critiques in our emerging ecosystem. Do #ReFi carbon credits actually waste money by incentivizing “fictitious conservation?” Are blockchain transactions truly too carbon-intensive? How can #ReFi projects avoid accelerating negative outcomes like the displacement of indigenous tribes? Does “financializing” nature cause net harm? This article’s careful, nuanced answers to these questions offer #ReFi founders a roadmap to use and discuss with critics.
And If-You’re-Bored
30 quotes from Buckminster Fuller, a legendary inventor and “systems theorist” who inspired many climate entrepreneurs.
Toucan Protocol runs the deCarbonized newsletter if you want analyses focused on carbon markets.
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 the Aera Force DAO
Researching web3 venture investments for a flourishing future
P.S. If you want to contribute research into web3-climate startups, 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.