How might blockchain technology support the development of a new positive-sum economic system?

Reforging the Ring of Power is a research project that studies the game theory dynamics of economic systems. We’ll evaluate the negative-sum power games that plague our existing systems, and we’ll explore the possibilities for engineering a resilient, regenerative economy through the novel opportunities that have been created by the emergence of web3 technology.

“Economics has to do with two primary areas of concern: 1) allocation of resources to meeting needs and creating value, and 2) a system of coordination of human activity. Our current global economic system is not only sub-optimal with regard to both goals, but is fundamentally unstable and ultimately self-terminating.” – Daniel Schmachtenberger, New Economic Series: Part 1

Precipitously declining biodiversity, the failure to adequately address global environmental challenges such as climate change and resource depletion and record levels of income inequality suggest that our current economic system is not fit for purpose. To address this, the Regenerative Finance (ReFi) movement has emerged to harness web3 technology to experiment with building a new economic system from the ground up.

Whatever this new economic system looks like, it needs to challenge the trio of fundamental axioms that underpin our current system: Accumulation, Extraction & Abstraction. This is what Daniel Schmachtenberger has referred to as the Ring of Power; an unholy trinity which needs to be reforged in the fires of Mordor by those stubborn and incorruptible enough to escape the call of its power.

This project is asking for $20,000 to conduct a 3-month research project into how ReFi could reshape the core axioms of our economy, by breaking the power of the Ring. We’ll explore how blockchain provides opportunities to avoid individual accumulation, eliminate extraction through continuous reinvestment, and reverse abstraction by deemphasising representational value. To do this, we’ll conduct a thorough investigation of the topics, analysis of existing projects and interviews with people with lived experience of non-traditional economic systems.

The outcome of this project will be future scenarios imagining a world in which the Ring has been reforged and a new regenerative economic system has taken hold. With this output, we aim to support people interested in building a new economic system, in the ReFi space and beyond, and widen their perspective on what’s possible.

Elements of the Ring of Power

"The extraction, abstraction, and accumulation cycle forms an autopoietic and self-evolving loop. The capacity for each of these increases our ability to further increase these capacities… leading to a classic self-reinforcing exponential curve. We affectionately refer to this autopoetic triplicate as the ring of power. It is figuratively what needs to be taken back to Mordor and destroyed. Or rather smelted into something else." – Daniel Schmachtenberger, New Economics Series: Part 4

Accumulation

Accumulation of excess food allowed ancient communities to survive during times of scarcity. Before food storage was possible, survival required not extracting beyond the limits the environment could replenish. Individual actors accumulating as much as they can leads to the reduction of resources in circulation. Therefore, accumulation both requires extraction, and drives it. As accumulation became the norm, financial services emerged, leading to the economic system we have today.

Extraction

Extraction is the value taken out of the system that isn’t replenished. In other words, profit. Not everyone can profit in a closed system, because value gained on one side has to be balanced with a loss somewhere else. Therefore, profit is created by extracting as much value from nature and other people as possible. Whether it’s Rockefeller with oil or Zuckenberg with behavioral data, economic success means maximizing the extraction of value.

Abstraction

Abstraction happens when a resource is extracted from its environment and transformed into a more accumulable and exchangeable form. In order for a tree to become accumulable and exchangeable, it needs to be cut down and turned into lumber, which can then be used, or stored, or exchanged. Insofar as it is a form of stored wealth, the lumber represents abstract economic value in addition to its tangible value as a material. The tree is further abstracted if I sell the lumber and store the value as currency, which only has representational value. If I then store the currency as digits in a digital bank account, this adds yet another layer of abstraction. In these cases, tangible value is sacrificed for ease of exchange.

How might blockchain technology help us reforge the Ring of Power?

We believe ReFi could be uniquely suited to the task of reforging the ring. Funding this grant will allow us to explore questions and projects including:

Beyond Accumulation

How might ReFi technologies help us avoid individual accumulation by encouraging communal resilience? Projects we intend to study include:

• Informal Systems' Collaborative Finance (CoFi) project on Multilateral Trade Credit Set-off (MTCS)
• Web3 demurrage currencies like the Encointer UBI

Beyond Extraction

How might ReFi technologies help us eliminate extraction through continuous reinvestment into living and social systems? Projects we intend to study include:

• Plural Money by RadicalxChange
• Circles UBI and other Web of Trust (WoT) protocols

Beyond Abstraction

How might ReFi technologies help us reverse abstraction by valuing assets for the complex ecosystem services they provide? Projects we intend to study include:

• GainForest
• Regen Network
• Open Forest Protocol

Process

"It's really easy to imagine dystopic sci fi worlds where we have exponential power and blow ourselves up, but not so easy to imagine a protopic world where we govern ourselves effectively considering hyperagents and multipolar traps without some kind of AI or genetic engineering." Daniel Schmachtenberger, In Search of the Third Attractor (paraphrased)

Phase 1: Exploratory Secondary Research

Duration: 1 month

First, we’ll conduct in-depth secondary research to understand the Ring of Power, the ReFi space connected to it, and their wider context within the economic landscape.

1. Define concepts: Analyze the elements of the Ring of Power (Abstraction, Extraction & Accumulation) and how they interact to create a degenerative economy.
2. Explore opposites: How might we define the opposite of Abstraction, Extraction & Accumulation? What evidence do we see of these alternatives in the past and present?
3. Examine ReFi: Look contextually at blockchain technology to understand how its properties could support reforging the Ring of Power, while analyzing existing experiments within ReFi & beyond.

Phase 2: Expert Interviews

Duration: 1 month

To gain more insight on the Ring of Power and alternatives, we’ll talk with a variety of experts in the field. Within that, we’ll include experts with lived experience of alternative systems, as we believe their direct input will provide a valuable new perspective.

1. Key figures in the ReFi space;
2. Leading thinkers like Daniel Schmachtenberger;
3. Indigenous Peoples open to discussion on digital and web3 technologies such as the Paiter Surui and Cinta Larga tribes of Western Brazil Amazonia Region;
4. Venezuelan people using crypto to navigate economic breakdown;
5. People with experience with the solidarity economy and/or worker cooperatives.

Phase 3: Scenario Creation

Duration: 1 month

Based on this research, we’ll deliver 1-3 speculative future scenarios of worlds in which this new economic system has taken hold. With this approach, we are looking to broaden the imagination and spark new ideas about what an alternative economic system could look like. Our aim will be to imagine a world where we govern ourselves effectively, collectively.

1. Collective ideation workshops: Bring diverse participants together to imagine scenarios of economic systems based on the data gathered.
2. Assess scenarios: compare against Daniel S’s criteria for a positive-sum economic system.
3. Creative communication: Create storytelling outputs that communicate the scenarios, in the form of videos, written stories, images, or other media outputs, depending on the content of the scenarios themselves.

Audience and outputs

WIth this project, we are hoping to reach the following groups:

• ReFi veterans wanting to think differently about the regenerative economy, or understand how their work aligns with it. They understand that building infrastructure for carbon credits is not enough, we need to dive deeper into the problem. This demographic is likely familiar with or working at projects such as Celo, KlimaDAO & Toucan.
• People with lived experience of alternative economic systems, such as indigenous people or people working in coops, who want to know how these ideas can scale.
• Researchers, economists, activists and others trying to build new economic systems. They are familiar with Doughnut Economics & Sacred Economics. They know the economy is broken and are looking for solutions, but they have not yet understood the full potential of ReFi.

Budget

Between all team members, we plan to dedicate a total of 40 hours per week to this project. Based on that, we are calculating labor costs at $5,000 per month in total, which gives a total of $15,000 over 3 months.

We are also asking for an additional $5,000 to cover additional costs such as paying interview and workshop participants, as well as other expenses.

Therefore, we are looking for $20,000 to fund this project. If we raise less than that, we plan to compensate by reducing the number of researcher hours, doing some of the work pro bono, and cutting down on the number of interviews.

The Team

Stephen Reid is a facilitator, coach and Ruby/Python developer devoted to the flourishing of Life on Earth who has trained in the fields of complexity science, physics, transformative coaching, meditation and plant medicine. Current projects include working with Supermodular on the metacrisis, hosting the upcoming Futurecraft Residency and studying for the UC Berkeley Professional Certificate in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

Previously, he founded The Psychedelic Society, taught the Life as Practice, How to DAO, Tools for the Regenerative Renaissance, The Promise of Decentralisation & Introduction to web3 courses, served as the youngest ever board member of Greenpeace UK, and consulted for organisations including the New Economics Foundation, the Living Wage Foundation and 350.org. Stephen has an MPhys in Physics from the University of Oxford, where he specialised in quantum field theory, and an MRes in Complexity Science from the University of Bristol.

Andrea Farias is a digital researcher and strategist working at the meeting point between digital technologies, social justice and ecosystem regeneration. Her current passion is Diome, an exploratory research project investigating the role of digital infrastructure in supporting the transition towards a regenerative civilization.

Andrea has 7+ years of experience in the digital space, in roles that span research, UX, product and marketing. She currently works at a global product agency leading innovation projects for clients like Change.org and Mozilla. Previously, she founded Pivotally, a product discovery agency helping software companies understand their customers and conduct product experiments. Twitter: @andrea_is_a

Tahimã Devadala Boury (Mycelia Bridger): From a law/economic background, co-founder of Mycelia with the intention to create a win-win ecosystem between indigenous peoples and the web3 community, mainly focused on ReFi. Also a member of Qi Capital, a venture capital focused on DeFi. Twitter: @dagda_uni Linkedin: Tahimã Devadala Boury

Mathilde Everaere (Mycelia Bridger): From International Cooperation to Indigenous Communities, Mathilde is set as intercultural coordinator & translator of Indigenous Mindset inside global system and technologies. She is the co-founder of Mycelia, FlorestaTV & O Organismo NGO, which aims to connect the Indigenous Voices to the digital world for Global Solutions. Instagram: @maah.tribu Linkedin: Mathilde Everaere

Sam Hall is focused on turning our finite predicaments into infinite games in hopes of creating a better future for humanity. Through his recent project, “Blueprints to the Infinite Game: The Prototype”, he refined his mental models to focus on iterative experimentation through collaborative development.

Reforging the Ring of Power is a critical component for addressing the Metacrisis, and the team behind this project is equipped with a unique lens to take on this challenge. Sam is excited to have found this group to grow with as he continues to evolve on his learning journey :)