ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Blockchain
Sec. Blockchain for Good
Volume 8 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbloc.2025.1564083
An evaluation of the regenerative claims of Web3's ReFi movement
Provisionally accepted
- Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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The Regenerative Finance (ReFi) movement has gained traction within Web3, with a growing number of blockchain-based initiatives claiming alignment with regenerative outcomes. Yet many of these claims remain vague, performative, or structurally unsubstantiated. This study offers the first comparative evaluation of 40 self-identified ReFi initiatives, assessing whether their design, governance, capital structures, and impact logic align with principles of regeneration as defined in foundational theory.Drawing from regenerative economics, living systems theory, and organizational design, the study operationalizes these principles into a structured evaluative framework spanning six dimensions across three domains: regenerative finance, real-world impact, and regenerative organizational design. Rather than prescribing a universal definition of regeneration, the framework enables consistent, theory-informed assessment of how regenerative intent is interpreted and embedded within Web3 contexts.Findings reveal wide variation in alignment—from structurally regenerative models to projects replicating conventional sustainability logic through tokenized mechanisms. This research contributes a replicable evaluation tool and an actionable typology to help funders, practitioners, and protocol developers assess which ReFi initiatives are structurally aligned with regenerative principles and which remain aspirational in design.
Keywords: ReFi, Web3, Regenerative Finance, Sustainable finance, self-evaluation, impact, Global Commons 10.2 Question-Level Indicators for Scoring: Questionnaire 2 1203 Question Dimension Primary Focus Scoring Indicators (1-3 scale) Key Theoretical Sources Appendix A
Received: 21 Jan 2025; Accepted: 12 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bennett. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Kate Bennett, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.