Topl Spotlight #17: Advancing Collaborative Finance & Memes Harnessing With Crypto Commons Association’s Giulio Quarta
Topl Spotlight showcases innovators and changemakers who are reimagining economic systems through web3 technologies. Today, we’re highlighting Giulio Quarta, the Co-Founder and Director of the Crypto Commons Association and co-initiator of Commons Hub. Giulio is a community connector with a focus on building post-capitalism. As an event organizer and ecosystem strategist, he unites people to collaboratively shape innovative structures that redefine our world.
Can you introduce yourself and talk about your experience in web3?
Hello! I’m Giulio, and my roots are in sociology, focusing on how technology intersects with economics and culture. Initially, I was drawn to activism and politics, but I soon realized there was a lack in the understanding of tech and economics in the progressive world.
Around five years ago, I came across blockchain. Many people only saw the speculative hype, but I believed there was something meaningful worth exploring. I connected with Felix Fritsch, who was then pursuing his Ph.D. on this new concept of crypto commons. Together, we organized an event in Austria to discuss the potential of blockchain for good. It went great: We attracted 50 experts and identified 30 projects worldwide that resonated with the niche. At the time, this space was pretty much unexplored, so it was a huge sense-making milestone!
Inspired by this, Felix and I founded a recurring event space to explore tech’s role in economics and systems that finally took the name of Commons Hub. We also co-launched the ReFi Spring and hosted the inaugural regenerative finance (ReFi) event. This movement has now spawned over 50 ReFi events and led to the creation of ReFi DAO. Most recently, we introduced an event on collaborative finance (CoFi), a meme initiated by Cosmos founder Ethan Buchman, which revolves around mutual credit tooling and trust networks over traditional tokens, for-profit speculation, and commodity money approaches.
How did you get interested in blockchain and its use for good?
I began exploring various projects and stumbled upon the Blockchain Socialist, which provided a left-leaning perspective on crypto. Another project that stood out was Commons Stack. They were in the early stages then, but their goal was clear: using blockchain for collective resource management and governance around shared resources. I also noted Holochain, a “post-blockchain” protocol centered around creating truly distributed economies, and a dozen more experimentations.
What I found interesting was the background of many in the blockchain for good space. While the broader crypto scene seemed dominated by those with finance or tech backgrounds, this subset was filled with people who had been immersed in alternative economies for decades — experts in community currencies, mutual credits, and similar concepts. Their curiosity about blockchain was a clear sign of the technology’s potential from a non-capitalist perspective.
Tell us more about what you’re working on.
Right now, our focus is on two organizations. The first one is the Commons Hub. It’s where we host events but also a playground for post-capitalist experiments. We’re diving deep into permaculture, using low-tech solutions for agriculture and energy optimization. Felix and Emil Fritsch are leading it, and there are some exciting plans ahead, so stay tuned!
Then, there’s the Crypto Commons Association, where I serve as the director. Our yearly gathering is taking place right now, but we’re now working on an AI-themed event for September titled RECL[AI]M: Generative Algorithms for the Commons. The idea is to delve into the convergence of AI, blockchain, and the broader theme of the Commons. Another recent initiative is our Collaborative Finance Chatbot, designed to familiarize users with CoFi concepts using a ChatGPT-like AI bot fed with alternative economics resources.
One project that’s been particularly close to my heart is the Commons Economy Roadmap. It’s our attempt to map out the most exciting projects within the “blockchain for good” space, especially those combining economic soundness and post-capitalist orientation. We’re about to publish a new version, which we hope to turn into a sort of reference point for all our ecosystem activities. The events we started in Austria are just the first step; our goal is to create a modular and collaborative events protocol to promote knowledge and best practices with an open-source ethos. The growing popularity of “memes” such as ReFi, CoFi, AI, and Solarpunk make them useful vehicles for all this infrastructure-building effort. Collaborating with community spaces like the Traditional Dream Factory, Akasha Hub Barcelona, and Liminal Village allows us to amplify these narratives globally.
You mentioned Collaborative Finance (CoFi). Can you tell us more about it?
First, we had decentralized finance (DeFi), which leverages blockchain to decentralize financial systems. Then came Regenerative Finance (ReFi), emphasizing focus on climate, collaboration, and regenerative practices over extractive ones. However, both approaches are still rooted in market-based incentives and the commodity money paradigm — which in some dimensions of the economy are fine but cannot be, in our opinion, the real game changer.
CoFi introduces a shift from this by emphasizing credit, especially mutual credit, as an alternative to always transacting with money. Credit isn’t just about lending and borrowing; it’s one of the pillars of all the economies that ever existed. Historically, both on local and global scales, there have been plenty of systems where instead of moving coins or their equivalents, value flows were coordinated by keeping accounts in different forms, from physical wooden tallies to ledgers. And with fewer transactions, there’s less friction and costs.
CoFi encompasses techniques such as mutual credit, multilateral offsetting, mesh-credit networks, voucher, and barter systems, which have been somewhat overlooked in the blockchain realm. A few years back, Ethan Buchman from Cosmos introduced the idea of CoFi, aiming to integrate credit tooling and payment craft with blockchain to enhance economic practices. Matthew Slater (who goes by Doomster Economist) has also been a key influence in the space, being the mastermind and network orchestrator behind the first event in May. To get a concrete idea of existing CoFi projects and what they practically do, take a look at this map we created after the gathering.
What I find particularly interesting in this CoFi emerging perspective is that while many conceive mutual credit as a not-scalable tool for small communities, Ethan emphasizes how it’s always been a key tool for big banks and corporations to manage their international economic empires! Instead of handling every single transaction, they balance out credits and payments to keep their books straight. We should use it as well, and CoFi could be the long-awaited bridge between blockchain and the “real economies” that the crypto industry historically struggles to get into.
We’re eager to grow this framework, hosting more CoFi events and partnering with various projects, much like what’s happening with ReFi, and in synergy with it as well as all the other networks working for the common good!
What do you want to see more of in the web3 space?
I’d like to see a stronger focus on local economies and holistic regeneration. ReFi and CoFi are on the rise, but we can do more. While it’s good that so many projects are diving into innovative financial infrastructures, it’s time we pay more attention to the real economy and its real needs.
We also need more diversity. Despite some steps in the right direction, the web3 scene is still predominantly male. We need more voices, especially from women and non-binary people. If they aren’t showing up, it’s not because they’re unaware or uninterested. We might be making the space not welcoming for them without being aware of it, an issue that we need to address.
What resources would you recommend for learning about blockchain for good?
I’d start with the just published “Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It” by Joshua Dávila. It’s a great introduction to using blockchain for good and understanding its challenges. ReFi DAO has some great content when it comes to regeneration. And for public goods, check out projects like Gitcoin, Giveth, and Optimism. Soon we are going to publish a new iteration of our knowledge infrastructure, the Commons Economy Roadmap; for the moment, you can read about it here.
What excites you the most about the future of web3?
In 2024, I’m looking forward to ReFi DAO becoming a major international hub for everything ReFi-related. I’m also excited by Cosmos and the Interchain; their approach to interoperability and the idea of an “internet of blockchains” really resonates with me. And, of course, CoFi.
And a call to action: If you are interested in Artificial Intelligence in any way, you should consider coming to our event at the end of September, RECL[AI]M — Generative Algorithms for the Commons. Hoping to see you there!
Curious to learn more about Giulio? Follow him on Twitter and find him on LinkedIn. And to explore similar content and stay up to date with Topl, make sure to join our Discord. 🍃
