🌍 This Week in Web3forGood
RetroPGF Results, Bitcoin ETF, Spotlight: Moss
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What an electrifying week it has been! 🚀🚀 First off, the SEC Twitter got HACKED, and the world of finance went wild when a mysterious force took over the SEC's Twitter account, sending shockwaves through the financial community. Allegedly, the long-awaited Bitcoin ETF was supposedly approved, sending the crypto world into a frenzy of jubilation... or so we thought. 📈
Turns out, it wasn't all as it seemed. THEN just when the rollercoaster ride semed over, the ETF Bitcoin approval *actually happened*, just a day LATER.
And that’s not all that happened this week… let's talk about Optimism RetroPGF. The long-awaited results are finally IN, and we are thrilled to share that Web3ForGood will receive a portion of the funds 🎉🎉.
We have talked about Optimism a lot but for those who might not know, Optimism's retroactive public goods funding is a mechanism that rewards developers and contributors after the fact, based on the value they've added to a project, encouraging participation and innovation. And in the 3rd round of RPGF (results just announced), 30m OP was rewarded to over 500 projects. Learn more about how it works here.
We are so grateful to have had the chance to be a part of this round and to learn that we will receive retroactive funding for our work on Web3ForGood. RetroPGF proves that public goods CAN be funded at scale. As more people learn about how Web3 tech can be used for good, we hope to see more applications of public goods funding in the future 💞.
PLUS this week, we’re excited to share the latest addition to our Climate Collective member spotlight series with a feature on Moss. Learn more below about the incredible & important work that they are doing with blockchain technology to democratize the carbon credit market and support community development in the Amazon.
WAGMI (we are going to make an impact!)
What’s Inside
📣 Latest News
📚 What We’re Thinking About
🚀 Opportunities & Events
📡 On Our Radar
✨ And one more thing
💚 The Climate Collective Member Spotlight: Moss
“The revolution that Moss MCO2 Token brings is not a revolution in markets or market structure. It is a revolution of utility, programmability and composability.” - Moss Whitepaper
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About Moss:
Moss uses blockchain technology to democratize the carbon credit market by allowing individuals and companies of any size to offset their emissions. The Brazilian company enables the certification of carbon credit projects through digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (dMRV) and is among the largest carbon credit service providers in the world.
Beyond offsetting emissions and monitoring, Moss takes a hands-on approach by collaborating directly with landowners in the Amazon Rainforest. The focus is on developing projects that not only contribute to environmental conservation but also actively support and uplift local communities.
Real World Impact:
Moss leverages the power of blockchain to open the carbon credit market to all, making it possible for anyone to partake in the vital act of offsetting carbon emissions, but Moss isn't just in the business of carbon credits. Founder and CEO Luis Felipe Adaime transitioned from traditional finance to climate advocacy to build Moss after the birth of his children, determined to create a better future for them by attracting attention to the climate crisis and the need to conserve the Amazon before it was too late.
Education has been at the heart of Moss’ mission, both explaining the profound impact of climate change and emphasizing the interconnectedness of the Amazon's preservation with the well-being of local communities. This dedication has sparked a transformation in Brazil, where Moss is reshaping the understanding of climate change and carbon markets.
Through the organization’s consistent campaigning and willingness to lead by example with unique, traceable credits, more people than ever are learning about why it’s important to offset emissions, and larger companies are responding. As a result, since March 2020, Moss has helped over 300 business clients transact more than 4 million carbon credits.
These credits have directly helped conserve approximately 650 million trees in the Amazon rainforest, which Moss is able to verify with its dMRV tool, Moss Forest. With Moss Forest, Moss uses satellite imagery, machine learning, and big data to generate reports about any piece of land’s potential to generate carbon credits. Before this technology existed, it could take months to generate the same information.
More than a catalyst for carbon offsetting, Moss is fostering a culture of environmental responsibility, making it possible for all Brazilians to be a part of it. By empowering everyone to take action now to conserve the Amazon, Moss is working to ensure that this precious natural resource will be around for generations to come.
Potential Future Impact:
Beyond simply serving as a market maker for carbon credit trading, Moss envisions a future where every person at the local level is empowered to use and protect their land. To make that vision a reality, the team at Moss is increasingly focusing on developing their own carbon credit projects hand-in-hand with local communities in the Amazon.
Projeto Seringueira in the municipality of Ipixuna, Brazil, is one such project. The single initiative, which is on track to conserve 18.000 hectares of native rainforests, extends its impact far beyond carbon credits. It encompasses an array of local community benefits, including setting up satellite internet service, training fire brigades, entrepreneurship programs for women, and building a school, among other community-centered projects.
Moss, in collaboration with locals, adopts a bottom-up approach to project development. By focusing on community needs and perspectives, Moss has been able to support communities across the Amazon by improving water distribution networks and offering training courses. These efforts aim not only to increase water security and provide access to information, but also to assist low-income communities from falling victim to extractive practices that perpetuate the negative impacts of climate change. The goal is to ensure Moss’ technology is accessible to everyone, even owners of smaller areas of land, so that any community can develop and manage their own carbon offsetting project.
Get involved:
[This feature is part of our ongoing “💚 The Climate Collective Member Spotlight” series. Web3ForGood is a Climate Collective Grant Recipient. We appreciate The Climate Collective’s partnership and support in connecting us with member organizations for this series. All opinions remain our own.]
📣 Latest News
Bitcoin spot ETF trading volume surpasses $1.6B within minutes of launch
GoodDollar enables notifications in the GoodWallet Android app for daily reminders to claim G$
European Central Bank lays out €1.2bn plan for development of digital euro
Special Economic Zone in Honduras recognizes Bitcoin as unit of account
Ethereum developers confirm Dencun Testnet dates, look to following ‘Pectra’ upgrade
📚 What We’re Thinking About
📑 An introduction to Ethereum Attestation Service and Impact. (GreenPill Podcast)
💽 Capital and enclosure in software commons: Entities which extract profits from software commons like Linux and Ethereum have the greatest incentive and capacity to co-opt them. (Trent)
🌳 Can a digital marketplace truly revolutionize the way we connect buyers with nature-based carbon credits, ultimately reshaping our commitment to the planet? (ReFi DAO)
📊 Aligning on impact: How do we address the challenges of inconsistent evaluation and measuring impact effectively in grant programs in the Web3 ecosystem? (LauNaMu)
💰 Less than 7% of Web3 VC funding went to female-led startups. The figure is several times lower than the overall figure for women in startups in various fields. (Cointelegraph)
🚀 Celo is going modular. Here’s why. (@CeloOrg)
🤖 What’s next for AI in 2024? (MIT Technology Review)
🏦 WTF is the Bitcoin ETF? (@She__Fi)
💡 The African village mining Bitcoin: The cryptocurrency can be a liberating force. (Unherd)
🔮 Charities are embracing change with cryptocurrency donations. (Cryptonews)
📄 The Blockchain Association has published a public response to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s criticism of the crypto industry’s hiring of former government officials. (Cryptonews)
🏞 Teresa Bízková, ecosystem communications manager at Topl and the founder of ReFi Medellín, the potential of blockchain for social good. (ReFi Generation Podcast)
🚀 Opportunities & Events:
Apply: Gitcoin is hiring a Senior Relationship Manager.
Apply: The Giving Block is hiring a Senior Fundraising Strategist.
Apply: Mento Labs is hiring a Senior Full Stack Engineer.
Apply: Uniswap Labs is hiring a Social Media Specialist.
Apply: The Foundation for American Innovation is hiring a Director or Manager, Technology Policy and a Director or Manager, Events and Marketing.
Scholarship: The ETHDenver Community Scholarship is designed to remove financial barriers for SporkDAO members who are committed to #BUIDLing at ETHDenver.
Speak: ETHDenver speaker applications are open until January 14.
Speak: Good Tech Fest speaker applications for the May 1-2 virtual conference are now open.
Build: #BUIDL is a call to blockchain enthusiasts to build and contribute to the advancement of the blockchain ecosystem. At ETHDenver 2024, #BUIDLers will form teams of 2 to 4 and spend up to 9 days #BUIDLing to their unique Web3 visions.
Vote: Talent Protocol is sponsoring 10 scholarships to ETHDenver. Vote for your favorite candidates to win. Every vote has a cost in $TAL, but if you predict the winner(s), you'll win a share of the prize pool.
Events
Attend: How the TECH do I lead the tech (if I’m not into tech)? Why (and how) to engage nontech leaders in digital strategy is happening virtually on January 17.
Attend: CBDCs, Deposit Tokens and Stablecoins: Monetary Revolution or Evolution? Is happening January 18 in Davos.
Attend: ETHDenver is happening February 23 - March 3 in Denver.
Attending ETHDenver? Here’s a list of sideETH Denver events.
Attend: SheFi Summit is happening February 28 in Denver.
📡 On Our Radar
ReFi Generation is a #ReFi focussed podcast on the ecological & social regenerative tools that blockchain technology unlocks.
Quadratic Lands is a place where the laws of economics have been rewritten to support the commons & ImpactDAOs.
✨ And one more thing
