Regenerative finance: a crypto-based approach for a sustainable future
Eva Meyer, Isabell Melanie Welpe, Philipp Sandner, Mathias Ponte · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · 2024
‘Regenerative Finance’ (‘ReFi’) projects are gaining increasing traction. At their core stands the mission to positively contribute to societal matters, currently dominated by environmental protection efforts and a fair co-participation of local communities in the projects’ design and implementation. Blockchain technology is used to accomplish these regenerative endeavors in a more efficient, transparent, and equitable way than legacy regenerative projects. Based on semi-structured interviews with members of the ReFi community, we i) derive a definition for ‘ReFi’, ii) describe motive forces for its emergence, iii) derive common building blocks along ReFi’s value chain, and iv) synthesize the overarching goals of the ReFi community including required actions and associated risks to attain these goals. The consolidation of ReFi experts’ perspectives, visions, and concerns lay the groundwork for further scholars to quantify the accomplishment of ReFi’s societal impact ambitions, to reveal limitations in current business models, and to support enhancing them.