ReFi Podcast

This week, John and Simar are joined by David Rodriguez from Draft Ventures, a leading seed stage venture capital fund that has invested in over 75 companies, eight of which have become unicorns. David is an active investor in ReFi, climate software, and impact fintech. He reveals his inspirations, aspirations, investment theses, perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in ReFi, and the launch of his new venture fund. #web3 #climateimpact #fintech Mentioned in the...

John and Simar welcome Marco from Impact Market, "The human empowerment protocol" which provides accessible financial services and tools to empower underprivileged people worldwide, and is based on the values of Unconditional Basic Income. 00:00 Intro 03:51 What is Impact Market? 06:43 Unconditional Basic Income Philosophy.. 10:00 Financial Inclusion Problem 16:06 Empowerment stories 18:37 The Story of Money 22:02 Deploying on Celo 26:45 John unpacks Impact 27:28 What happens if...

John and Simar welcome Luuk and Pat from Kolektivo, who are two great pioneers of the Regen space. They dig down on the Kolektivo Framework and describe some of the great outcomes within Curaçao, which has been the location for on the ground research to develop new models and technologies for regenerative economies.. Luuk also whets the appetite for the upcoming Kolektivo Festival 🎉 https://www.kolektivofestival.com 00:00 Intro 05:07 What is Kolektivo? 06:16 Pat's draw to...

John Ellison is joined by Kieran and Andrew from Return to have a chat ahead of the drop of the beta version of their new application, which makes it super easy for anybody to take #climateaction on-chain in just a few clicks, with all of the usual complexities taken away.. #refi #web3 #climateimpact 00:00 Intro 03:06 What is Return? 05:25 How does it work? 08:30 How are you different? 10:52 Celebrating climate action on return and blockchain 14:14 Where did this idea come...

In this episode of ReFi Podcast, John and Simar are joined by Helena and Doug, and they really dig down on everything Spirals Protocol, which uses yield generated from staking on Celo and directs the flow towards climate positive projects.. 00:00 Intro 04:13 What is Spirals protocol? 05:46 How Doug met Helena, A ReFi story.. 12:07 What’s been learned around the launch? 15:51 High value climate impact projects 21:34 Spirals user experience 25:31 Governance 26:00 Passive/Active...

In this episode John and Simar take a chance to pause and unpack, what is ReFi? Taking a look at the origin of the movement, the core concepts, ideas, and technology that make it possible, but above all provide a resounding invitation to all who want to do their part in this #climate symphony to make a difference.. 00:00 Intro 03:12 So what is ReFi? 05:11 What is money? 11:49 The notion of interest 14:00 What’s next for how we think about the internet? 15:32 Sandbox of...

John Ellison sits with Ben and Eline from Ecomint, and they discuss the stories and details behind Angry Teenagers; An NFT collection which is funding a reforestation project on depleted land in Ghana as well as investing in badly needed infrastructure for the local communities who are deeply involved with the on-ground work there. This is a great chat about a really exciting #refi project that leverages the energy and urgency of the youth of the world and aims to draw a direct line between...

On episode 4 of ReFi Podcast Season Two, John chats with Kevin Owocki, founder of Gitcoin and thought leader working to incentivize public goods. We explore Kevin’s story, dive into what it means to take the “Green Pill”, and learn all about Kevin’s vision for how web3 can solve some of the most pressing challenges of our time. Recorded live at SBS in Paris.. 00:00 Intro 01:56 Quadratic Funding History 04:30 Why we launched GTC 08:10 Gitcoin Passports 10:47 The idea of ‘Lunar...

On episode 3 of ReFi Podcast Season Two, your hosts John and Simar chat with Benoît Clément, Director of Financial Innovation at Verra. We explore Benoît’s personal story, what it means to tackle the climate crisis while working at Verra, and get his perspective on the future of on-chain carbon markets. Some of the topics we jump into: 0:00 Introduction 3:07 Benoit’s Story 4:32 Re-Forestry 6:03 Web3 & AI Background 7:30 Working at Verra 9:40 Addressing Climate Change 12:04...

On episode 2 of ReFi Podcast Season Two, we chat with Luis Adaime, founder and CEO of MOSS. We explore Luis’ journey, why protecting the Amazon is a global priority, and how the solutions to achieving his ambitious vision are remarkably simple. Some of the topics we jump into: 0:00 Introduction 01:50 Luis' origin story 06:25 How do we break the cycle 10:50 The most scarce asset 12:30 Existing carbon projects 13:24 The challenge 15:20 Where are we today? 17:48 Digitizing and...

We kick-off season two by welcoming Simar, founding partner of Magic Ventures as a new host on the show! He shares his story and ReFi journey so far. We discuss the challenges and exciting solutions we have encountered whilst carving out this new collaborative community... Some of the topics we jump into: 00:00 Introduction 03:52 Simar's story 11:05 Boundaries of the past 13:30 A platform for all 14:47 Ecosystem mindset 18:37 Tribalism in ReFi 26:00 Web3, a piece of the puzzle 30:00...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 Intro 01:14 Tomer's education and path to Flori 07:40 How does Celo resonate with...

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...

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...

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 - Intro 03:00 - 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 Kernel 12:50 -...

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...