Blockchain Solutions for a Sustainable Future: An Interview With A. Arman of Planet ReFi

I recently spoke with Mr. A Arman, Senior Marketing Executive at Planet ReFi, a company working to create a green and equitable planet through regenerative finance (ReFi). In our conversation, we delved into leveraging crypto and blockchain to address global challenges like climate change and poverty, emphasizing the need for scalable models that reward eco-friendly behavior at scale.

Hello Arman. It’s great to speak with you. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Hi. It’s my pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.

My professional journey began in 2018 as a part-time content writer with TheNerdMag, an international news website. So, over two years before getting an MBA degree in International Business from Buckinghamshire New University in 2021-22, I was making a living by writing about gaming and tech.

In December 2021, I moved to Canada to work with Arcadian Lab and Scar Speed. Then, in May this year, I joined PlanetRefi as a Senior Marketing Executive, aiming to put 5+ years of experience into building a better world.

Growing up in Pakistan, a so-called ‘developing’ nation, I had a hands-on experience of how we’re lagging in sustainability. From reducing poverty and hunger to equally distributing opportunities, there’s much to do to build a better, more equitable future.

I’m very passionate about making this happen, so it’s great to be a part of Planet ReFi. It’s not just a job anymore; it’s more like being a part of a community—a movement.

ReFi, or Regenerative Finance, is a fairly new concept in Web3. Can you give us an overview of what it is and why it matters?

Sure.

While Regenerative Finance has been a hot topic among Discord communities for quite some time, the idea got mainstream traction around 2021.

In the simplest terms, ReFi is the movement to leverage crypto, blockchain, and other emerging tech to tackle social and economic problems like climate change, poverty, unequal opportunities, unsustainable development models, etc.

You can also think of ReFi as a way of bringing natural assets—forests, water bodies, etc.—on-chain and creating systems to motivate their sustainable use. But it’s easier said than done, even with all the core technologies in place.

The biggest challenge concerning sustainability is the need for proper economic incentives. We all know about the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Global leaders discuss them on significant platforms. And yet, more needs to be done in the way of implementation.

It’s a coordination failure, so to say, where there’s a gap between intent and outcome. This is because we don’t have proper models to reward eco-friendly or sustainable behavior at scale. And while corporations and big organizations may have the means to invest in the environment, proper retail channels are almost nonexistent. ReFi bridges this gap, as we’re doing at PlanetReFi.

Planet ReFi recently rebranded from JoinOurPlanet. What motivated this move? And more broadly speaking, how are you working to solve sustainability problems?

The rebranding was meant to expand our project’s scope. Let me explain how.

When we launched PLANET in May 2023, it immediately gained traction among environment-conscious crypto enthusiasts. But we soon realized that our offering could somehow be perceived as a meme coin promoting sustainability. That’s a minimal view of what we’re doing.

So, by rebranding as Planet ReFi, we wanted to convey our vision more precisely and effectively. We represent a movement to unite Web2 and Web3 to unlock cutting-edge systems seamlessly focused on achieving the SDGs.

Leveraging blockchain technology and stakeholder and celebrity partnerships, we’re building an alternative ecosystem that’ll help foster social, economic, financial, and environmental stability worldwide. The $Planet token is an aspect of what we’re doing, not the entirety—another reason for the rebranding.

At Planet ReFi, we’re bridging the coordination gap by incentivizing eco-friendly investments and action from a globally distributed community backed by the power of celebrities and opinion leaders widely considered the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) in their field. To this end, we’ve created a $100 million annual revenue model, which we will use to boost sustainability causes, startups, etc.

Anyone willing to support our initiative can acquire $Planet tokens from Bybit, Uniswap, PancakeSwap, MEXC, Gate.io, Bitget, BitMart, Polonies, etc. Besides making you a stakeholder in the planet movement, it’ll unlock rewarding access to a DAO, an Ecosystem Fund, Mystery Boxes, NFTs, and many other perks down the line.

Can you shed some light on your celebrity partnerships and their role in Planet ReFi’s model?

Yes, partnering with celebrities is at the core of our modus operandi at Planet ReFi. This is mainly for two reasons.

First, onboarding and engaging prominent figures is a great way to get the masses interested in environmental and sustainability-related issues. It’s a rather exclusive (even elitist) domain right now, and we want to change that—i.e., democratize sustainable living and investments.

Second, working with celebrities will help us build dedicated communities with people willing to participate in the cause. Our celebrities aren’t paid endorsements. They are integral to our business model and participate in defining our causes and the actions we take to help the planet.

We’re playing the long-term game, and harnessing the influence of G.O.A.T.s is very important to this end. It’ll help green technologies thrive in this attention-driven landscape, ultimately benefiting everyone everywhere. Plus, it’ll boost mass adoption for crypto in general.

The Argentine football legend Lionel Messi is one of the first celebrities to join us. Our campaign with the greatest footballer of all time went viral almost immediately after launch. This proved to us the power such collaborations have in spreading the sustainability message far, wide, and fast.

So, we’re working to bring more celebrities on board who’ll introduce and endorse various unique Real World Assets (RAWs) in the new future.

To wind down, what does the future look like to you? Not just for the world but also for Web3.

I’m very optimistic. Objectively, despite the slew of news on socials, the world has never been better. Yes, pressing challenges exist, such as the fight against climate change and the need to create a fair and sustainable future for all.

But we also have some of the best tools in human history to fight and solve those problems. It’s more about the mindset now than capabilities.

Web3 and crypto have some sustainability concerns to meet and overcome internally. Energy use is one of them. PLANET is working with partners to offset this energy use and turn the technology into a net plus for the planet. Further, innovators are increasingly pushing for greater sustainability and eco-friendliness. Ethereum’s shift to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) system is a perfect example.

Overall, a sustainable approach is an integral part of the Web3 narrative. We’re also working towards that and will achieve the desired awareness and action within the next decade. It’s also about the underlying technology maturing, which is happening at speed right now.

Now, for the planet as a whole, global leaders are, indeed, taking positive steps toward sustainability. But more importantly, individual citizens are becoming increasingly conscious in this regard. They're championing eco-friendly lifestyles while doing their bit to build a fair, equitable future.