Interpreting ReFi: The cross-narrative of finance, energy and DePIN, which projects are worth paying attention to?

Author: Xiaobai Navigation coderworld

"To be or not to be, that's a question."

This famous line from "Hamlet" can be translated into an encrypted version: To buy or not to buy, that is the question.

One of the daily routines of Web3 players is to jump back and forth between hot narratives.

When faced with a project, people often think about whether it is a hot narrative to decide whether to get on board; when faced with multiple projects, they repeatedly switch projects based on the ups and downs of the popularity of different narratives.

What are the hot narratives in the current market?

In addition to the Bitcoin ETF incident, DePIN is in the ascendant, new L1s are moving forward in parallel, and RWA has been included in the institutional outlook list many times... After all, there are many narratives, and the funds in pockets are always stretched.

Therefore, the best situation isA project hits multiple of the above narratives at the same time, at least in a perceptual sense, it greatly increases the probability of success - betting on multiple sides but only investing one share of the money; in addition, if the project can also generate some positive social value, it will add a bit of legitimacy.

So what are the projects that meet the above conditions?

In addition to the recent market focus, there is a track that meets the conditions but grows secretly but few people mention it, that is ReFi .

Note that the Re prefix does not refer to "re-pledge finance" but"Renewable Finance", a track that combines the crypto world with energy, environmental protection, and physical equipment.

For example, Rowan, a representative project in the ReFi track,TokenThe increase in the past year is an astonishing 200 times, but many readers may not have heard of this name.

So, what is the magic of ReFi, and what other projects are worth paying attention to?

ReFi: Standing on multiple narratives, aiming at environmental protection

ReFi is not a new narrative. If you search for crypto articles last year with ReFi as the keyword, you can see a lot of introductions and research.

But for Web3, the popularity of crypto narratives and projects is often related to the larger capital market context.

According to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance in August last year, global new investment in renewable energy soared to US$358 billion in the first half of 2023, an increase of 22% from the beginning of last year, setting a 6-month high.

During the same period, related capital markets also saw rapid growth, with venture capital and private equity expansion commitments to renewable energy companies reaching $10.4 billion, an increase of $251T from the first half of 2022.

Everyone has begun to pay attention to environmental protection and sustainable development. The Web3 field, which is good at combining hot spots in the real world, naturally also shows signs of development.

A general ReFi approach is to useBlockchainThe technology's transparent mechanism brings natural assets onto the chain and introduces incentive mechanisms to reward behaviors that contribute to green development, thereby promoting sustainable development.

As for different parts, the current ReFi can rely on the following components to play a roleXiaobai Navigationuse:

• Decentralized Ledger/L1 : Promote distributed consensus, write behaviors/facts that contribute to the environment into the public chain, make environmental protection behaviors visible and traceable, and provide a basis for supervision and rewards;

• NFT:Provide a container for data from regeneration projects, tracking social, environmental, and economic data for specific bioregions;

• Tokenandcontract：自然资本、生产/制造资本、社会资本、人力资本等对环境有益的资本都可以被代币化，而后通过contractA concrete example is the tokenization of carbon emission quotas in a certain region.

• DAO:Governance of the environment and renewable resources through new organizational forms may take into account previously marginalized stakeholders such as environmental organizations.

Last year, a blog post by Gitcoin divided the Refi track intoCommunity, economic/technical platforms, credit scores and financing tools. But such a distribution is still too macro, let’s think about it in more specific ways:

First, to collect data on environmental benefits in a certain place, physical equipment is essential, so this more or less involves DePIN In addition, there are some RWA At the same time, a dedicated chain may also be necessary to record data related to environmental protection and renewable energy, which is related to L1 and InfrastructureA connection was made...

With its foothold in multiple narratives and its sword pointed at environmental protection, ReFi is able to connect with different existing tracks; more importantly, it at least conceptually provides a kind of legitimacy that purely financial-oriented crypto projects cannot achieve - moving from the virtual to the real.

It can be linked to multiple narratives and has positive social value. The combination of these two favorable factors has also created a number of projects worthy of attention.

Dione Protocol ($DIONE): Connecting power suppliers, L1 and market dedicated to new energy transactions

The goal of the Dione Protocol is to provide a solution that reduces barriers to entry in the renewable energy industry and enables consumers to build their “green energy” businesses.

To provide this feasibility, the project developed aBlockchainThe platform will incentivize everyone in the system to use green energy and make the energy production process and related supply chain more efficient and transparent to end users, utilities, investors and regulators.

In terms of specific architecture, Dione is an L1 based on the PoS mechanism, compatible with EVM, and aims to achieve the trade of renewable energy. Its core architecture is based on Avalanche, which also allows Dione to have more than 5,000 TPS, support the expansion of more nodes, and store private data under strict access control to ensure data privacy andSafety.

Based on the above architecture, the project built an energy trading market called Nebra.

Nebra connects energy producers and consumers on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis. This enables producers to bypass the traditional energy grid and sell excess energy directly to consumers. This can result in significant savings for both producers and consumers.

When an energy supplier generates and releases a unit of energy to be consumed, the transaction will take place through Nebra, however, the actual movement of the unit from the supplier to the consumer's device will take place through the grid.

At the same time, users can also install solar panels (which Dione helps grid operators sell) to receive clean energy from suppliers.

In addition, an interesting point is that Dione Blockchain在验证节点的设计上，节点由马斯克SpaceX公司提供的Starklink(星链）卫星链接，同时用太阳能发电，使其能够在偏远和难以到达的地点无缝运行，真正在物理意义上做到了“环保”和“去中心化”的Blockchain.

Dione’s own blockchain, called Odyssey, is currently in the testnet stage but will beAround January 15Officially migrated to the mainnet.

However, as a project that has existed for 2 years, the progress of the mainnet launch is not fast. We can continue to observe the operating performance and market reaction after the mainnet launch.

Although its own L1 mainnet has not been launched, Dione's native token DIONE has been deployed on Ethereum and will be migrated to the mainnet in the future. This also affects the economy of the DIONE token.

From the Token Economy White Paper (See here for more information) It can be seen that the total amount of DIONE will be increased after the mainnet is launched, from the original 10000M to 124000M, but at the same time, the benefit is that the purchase and sale of DIONE tokens will no longer be taxed.

The author speculates that around the launch of the mainnet on the 15th, the token price may fluctuate due to changes in supply, but this fluctuation is not directly due to an increase in supply (there is a linear release mechanism), but may be an opportunity for the market to speculate.

In addition, users can stake DIONE tokens to guarantee the networkSafetyThe staking income every 30 days is 1%, and the maximum amount you can get during the entire staking period is 8%.

In terms of the price in the secondary market, DIONE has doubled in the past month; and if we look at it over a period of one year, the token price has even increased 200 times. However, in contrast, the current total market value of the token is only 36 million. With the launch of the mainnet and more people paying attention to environmental protection, DIONE may usher in another round of speculation.

Rowan Energy ($RWN): Solar mining for homes, environmentally friendly and economical

If Dione is looking for solutions on the energy supply side, then Rowan is more focused on the consumer side.

Rowan Energy is a new energy company that also has its own L1.

Rowan Energy uses blockchain technology to track the output of residential rooftop solar power. This technology can provide accurate tracking and data verification, solving problems in the traditional energy market, such as untraceable electricity and opaque transactions.

At the same time, the project adopts a consensus mechanism called "Proof of Generation". This mechanism allows users connected to the network to participate in the maintenance of the blockchain by proving their solar power generation. This is different from the traditional Proof of Work mechanism, which is more environmentally friendly and low in energy consumption.

L1 records data and also requires hardware to generate/transmit data.

The hardware solution they provide is called SmartMiner, which is a combination of smart meter and blockchain.cryptocurrencyAll-in-one mining equipment.

All in all, this is more like a kind of DEPIN mining using solar physical hardware, but the goal is the same: the use of renewable energy and environmental protection.

SmartMiner is a box the same size as an ordinary smart meter. It will be installed on the user's solar panel wiring and connected to the home Wifi. SmartMiner calculates electricity consumption and generatescryptocurrencyRewards. According to its official documentation, Rowan Energy will pay $RWN worth 10 pence for every kilowatt-hour of solar energy generated. These rewards can be converted into cash via PayPal or sent to a compatible Rowan app on the user's phone. walletmiddle.

Every time a SmartMiner is sold or fees are generated on its L1, Rowan Energy will repurchase a certain proportion of $RWN, giving tokens value support to encourage users to use clean energy (solar energy) in the long term.

In terms of the specific design of the token, the total amount of RWN is 545M, of which VC and private placement rounds account for 150M. But it is worth noting that the project stipulates that the RWN tokens in the VC roundOnly throughOTCto cash out, and never inexchangeBuy and sell on.

Currently, the total circulation of RWN is 195M, and the remaining 180M is used for DePIN mining output.

In terms of market price, RWN has increased by 200% in the past month, and has also increased by an astonishing 20 times in a year. Its market value of 33 million is comparable to that of the aforementioned DIONE.

Solareum ($SRM): A new energy supplier acting as a “green L1” verification node

SolareumChain uses blockchain technology to encourage people to adopt green energy in the form of tokens to cope with the energy crisis. The L1 adopts two innovative consensus mechanisms: Proof of Generation (PoG) and Proof of Holding (PoH).

Among them, PoG, or Proof of New Energy Production, is the core of SolareumChain. Unlike BTC's verification method that consumes a lot of electricity and computing power, in Solareum, the reason why "miners" are rewarded is not to consume electricity, but to produce electricity in a renewable way.

SolareumChain opens the door for renewable energy producers (including solar farms, wind farms, tidal farms, geothermal installations, and even individual rooftop solar panels) to participate as validators. These producers can still produce new energy, but also enhance the Solareum L1Safetysex.

PoG 技术可确保所产生的可再生能源经过验证并确认为合法来源。它还可以防止任何单一实体或团体拥有过多控制权，从而形成真正去中心化的解决方案。 这种方法不仅使 SolareumChain 更加环保，而且更加安全。

PoH, on the other hand, is designed to reward those who hold Solareum tokens (SRM) and meet specific criteria. This unique mechanism makes it easy for anyone to become a validator and thus contribute to the security and integrity of the network.

The more SRM you hold, the more you earn, and the opportunity to participate in energy generation, becoming an integral part of the SolareumChain ecosystem. SRM is also the currency used to purchase energy from one another on Solareum's open energy market. And, because the market is set up on the blockchain, every transaction and verification process is publicly verifiable, ensuring the integrity of the network.

However, at present, SolareumChain is still in the testnet stage.

According to the official Twitter account, the testnet has been built and is running, and transactions are being processed. They have also worked together to connect two Tesla Powerwalls to the testnet, which are connected to important solar installations.

Solareum plans to formally announce a developer program soon, inviting developers to build decentralized applications (dApps) on the testnet in preparation for the public mainnet launch, with the official public launch date to be announced closer.

In terms of token performance, SRM has only increased by about 35% in the past month, and the price has not changed drastically over the past year. At the same time, the market value of the token is less than 1.5 million US dollars, which is even smaller than the market value of some well-known local dogs.

However, judging from the official project documents, Twitter attention and other information, SRM does not disclose as many details as the above two projects. The documents are more about describing values and mathematical formulas, and there is not much description of substantive progress. This also highlights the high-risk and high-potential coexistence of tokens from another perspective:

Without more details, it can be interpreted as the project has not yet started and there is a lot of work to be done. On the other hand, it can also be interpreted as the project itself is just so-so. How it will perform in the future remains to be seen.

Arkreen Network ($AKRE): Energy data network with zero energy consumption and carbon emission reduction

Arkreen's name is Arkand (g) reenThe combination of "agricultural energy and energy" means an ark that gathers green energy data and carries the future.

Arkreen Network is a Web3-based carbon reduction infrastructure for globally distributed renewable energy resources that enables the connection and monetization of carbon reduction applications.

Specifically, it connects energy production and demand.

supplysquareUse the Arkreen Network to declare the amount of renewable electricity they produce, store or consume. The network rewards participating suppliers for their contributions. Suppliers are owners of solar photovoltaic equipment and households that save energy on demand.

needsquareUse the Arkreen Network to access electricity data and build applications and services based on that data (such as REC Renewable Energy Certificates and VPP Virtual Power Plants).

For example, you can check on the project's blockchain how much of a clean power generator's power generation quota has been used, and at the same time issue a certificate as shown in the figure below to recognize its contribution.

To achieve the above functions, Arkreen Network needs to be built on IoT (Internet of Things),AIBy digitizing the parameters and status of energy facilities, a twin environment that reflects the physical facilities can be created in the digital world.

Ultimately, the project aims to:

• Power generators produce more renewable electricity to reduce overall demand for fossil electricity.

• The storage side absorbs energy when power generation is sufficient and transmits it to consumers or the grid when power is scarce, thus reducing energy waste and improving efficiency.

• Consumers reduce their total consumption.

• Consumers shift part of their electricity plans from times of energy shortage to times of energy abundance.

Currently, Arkreen supports the following types of “miners” to participate in AKRE mining, and also plays the role of renewable energy generation:

• Remote Miner: Miners run remotely without having to install their own energy equipment (such as solar photovoltaic panels) and data collectors locally. For those who cannot purchase or install energy equipment, Remote Miner provides a lightweight experience to enter the Arkreen ecosystem. Each time you purchase Remote Miner, a Remote Miner NFT will be minted.

• Standard Miner: This type requires users to purchase related detection hardware and data collectors. Although it is more troublesome and costly than Remote Miner, the owner can get more benefits.

• API Miner: API Miner rewards are based on the data of third-party platforms. For example, users connect existing energy facilities to the energy platform for management. Qualified third-party platforms can provide energy facility data to Arkreen Network, and Arkreen will reward them based on this data. Each API Miner will receive an API Miner NFT after confirming that the data is valid.

In addition to energy generation being able to participate in mining, Arkreen also introduced an energy consumption product - Smart Plug. Smart Plug can calculate the energy consumed by electrical appliances and arrange power supply remotely. Users can use Smart Plug to power their own appliances (such as air conditioners) and participate in green actions. At the same time, each Smart Plug will mint a corresponding NFT.

In terms of tokens, AKRE can be distributed as rewards to contributors who help build and maintain the Arkreen network, and can also be used to pay Arkreen network transaction fees and to pay external entities that use the green energy data services provided by the Arkreen network.

The maximum supply of AKRE is 10,000,000,000 (10 billion). All AKRE of the Arkreen network will be distributed to stakeholders in batches according to the progress of network construction, of which 30% will be used for mining, and the rest will be distributed among roles such as the team, consultants, investors and the ecosystem, but there are certain lock-up and linear release terms.

The author has not found any clues about the TGE of AKRE token in the public data, and it is speculated that the project is still in the Build stage. Different from the aforementioned projects, Arkreen focuses more on the data and credentials related to energy, and the more functions of the token need to pay close attention to the update of its official introduction.

Summarize

Looking at the aforementioned projects and the overall track introduction, we can find the following characteristics:

First, projects span multiple narratives, such as L1/DePIN and even RWA

Second, the market value of the projects is relatively low

Third, businesses participating in the project have to meet certain thresholds, such as having solar panels, purchasing small equipment, or needing to open up the entire new energy industry chain.

The third point may also be the reason that restricts the current scale of the project. Since clean energy generation itself involves traditional interest chains and multiple participants, the policies of various countries and their interests are intertwined. Blockchain and IoT technologies can solve certain efficiency problems, but they cannot completely subvert the operating model of the traditional energy industry at this stage.

But at the same time, these projects are all tough nuts to crack. Modifying equipment, persuading residents, and winning over energy suppliers all require more investment in connections and resources in addition to technology. They are also areas that require long-term investment and slow results.

But on the other hand, because it is difficult, it can better reflect social value - this may also be the basic foundation of ReFi's narrative that deserves attention.

However, in the lively and even impetuous crypto market, it remains a big question whether funds and attention have the patience to wait for these "orthodox" projects to land; but at the intersection of multiple narratives overlapping, choosing low-market-cap projects for trading may also be a good choice for layout around hot spots.

The article comes from the Internet:Interpreting ReFi: The cross-narrative of finance, energy and DePIN, which projects are worth paying attention to?

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