What's holding ReFi back?

1) Relatively low levels of funding. Institutional investors are hesitant due to the lack of commercialization potential of ReFi; the space isn't ready for retail investors to fill the gap; large donors prefer to distribute funds via intermediaries. It all adds up to a lot of projects fighting over a small amount of money.

2) The "blockchain will fix the carbon markets" narrative grabbed all the headlines during the last bull run (due to revenue potential and subsequent venture funding) but the result put ReFi in a small box. Carbon tunnel syndrome, they call it. When things didn't go as planned with the carbon markets, ReFi was left for dead. Vaporware/scams didn't help either. That ReFi buidlers kept on buidling through the bear market tells you a lot.

3) ReFi also lacks a consensus definition and narrative. We all have a different way of describing it, from programmable money to Web3-powered ecological and social impact, which only serves to confuse people.

Where does ReFi go from here?

1) 2025 seems like an important year. A potential bull run means more money coming on-chain, better investor interest, and stronger media interest. Some of the core infra built during the bear market will finally have a chance to prove itself in the spotlight.

2) Generating verified on-chain ecological credits is one such piece of infra. Both Regen Network and Open Forest Protocol plan to issue significant numbers of credits next year. Question is: will there be a big enough market for them to drive scale?

3) The other thing that needs to make significant progress next year are the investment instruments and currencies that aim drive capital to impact projects. Hard to imagine degens and the like interested in 10% gains when 1000x gains are on the table, so who are the end users going to be? A lot of energy has been put into converting degens. Perhaps that isn't the right strategy.

/allthingsfiction. Accidental Intrigue podcast (https://accidentalintrigue.com). Furtive Khan novels (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CB6H3SH). @carboncopy-refi.

I’d say look for folks trying to stabilize gains / lock in good rates makes more sense than degens.

🥑🍋 Farmer / LAMP stack dev / Husband / 🌈 Dad / Web1 dude loving a web3 world / Collector of things digital & physical / 
CdeP ‘94 