In the world of Web3, we often talk about changing the world. We envision systems that are fairer, more transparent, and more aligned with collective well-being. Yet, when we look at where the capital and attention flow, it’s often toward speculative games and meme tokens. On the other side of the spectrum is Regenerative Finance, or "ReFi"—a movement brimming with noble intentions but often perceived as idealistic and unprofitable, struggling to attract the financial gravity it needs to achieve escape velocity.
This leaves us with a nagging question: Must profit and purpose always be at odds?
In the most recent TEC Talk, Joshua from Azos Finance presented a pragmatic and powerful new perspective. He shared the story and strategy behind Azos, a DeFi protocol that isn’t asking for donations or appealing to altruism. Instead, it’s building a financial engine designed to harness the raw, speculative energy of DeFi and channel it toward assets that can actually make the world a better place.
To understand Azos, you first have to understand the frustration it grew from. Joshua’s journey into Web3 was fueled by his experience at Lyft, where he witnessed the company’s IPO firsthand. He saw how the very people who created the network's value—the tens of thousands of drivers and millions of passengers—were almost entirely excluded from owning a piece of it. The wealth was vacuumed up and sent to VCs and executives in San Francisco, leaving local communities with little to show for it.
"Ethereum was created to prevent literally this," Joshua recalled thinking. This core conviction—that the people who create value should own, govern, and benefit from their networks—is part of the philosophical bedrock upon which Azos is built.
The regenerative space is full of "impact assets"—things like carbon credits, renewable energy certificates, and green bonds. These assets represent a positive real-world impact, but they face a major problem: they are often illiquid. They sit idly in a wallet, unable to be used as a productive financial tool.
Furthermore, the projects that create these assets often rely on grants or tokenomics that lead to constant sell pressure, making it difficult to build a sustainable treasury. This is the "ReFi problem": when people hear the term, they think of a donation, not an investment. "I'm never gonna make money from this," is the common sentiment, Joshua explained.
Azos Finance tackles this problem head-on by refusing to brand itself as ReFi. "It's DeFi, it's just DeFi," Joshua stated. Azos is a Collateralized Debt Position (CDP) platform, much like the original MakerDAO that powers DAI.
Here’s how it works, in simple terms:
The Digital Vault: An owner of an approved impact asset (like the Glo Dollar or KLMA) can deposit it into a personal "safe" within the Azos protocol.
The Loan: Against that collateral, they can borrow AZUSD, the platform's native stablecoin. This gives their once-idle asset immediate liquidity and utility.
The Freedom: They can take that AZUSD and use it anywhere in DeFi—to provide liquidity, make payments, or even loop it to compound their position.
The Return: To get their original assets back, they simply repay the AZUSD loan plus a small stability fee.
This isn't a handout; it’s a powerful financial tool. It gives impact projects a "permissionless line of credit" against their own assets, helping to reduce sell pressure and create a sustainable economic flywheel.
Herein lies the genius of the Azos model. It doesn't try to change human behaviour; it leans into it. The platform is designed to be a compelling game for DeFi natives who are driven by yield and clever financial mechanics.
"We don't need them to [care about preserving the earth]," Joshua admitted. "They're going to see the yield and be like, 'Oh, this is a game I want to play because it's about yield'".
The ultimate goal is to shift the object of speculation itself. Rather than having people gamble with dog tokens, Joshua mused, "maybe they start gambling with like carbon credits, which would be great". By creating a robust, yield-generating DeFi ecosystem around these assets, Azos aims to attract the massive pools of capital that have so far remained on the sidelines of the regenerative movement.
Looking forward, the vision for Azos is to become a foundational piece of infrastructure. Joshua imagines a world where AZUSD acts as a reserve currency for the entire regenerative ecosystem, unifying disparate projects under a common medium of exchange. He envisions protocol revenue being funneled back into real-world projects, like buying up land for conservation in Brazil or helping to clean rivers and oceans.
This is a vision built not on idealism alone, but on a pragmatic understanding of what it takes to build sustainable, self-reinforcing systems in the world of decentralized finance. It’s a compelling argument that perhaps a more effective way to do good is to build a system where doing good is also a profitable and engaging game to play.
To dive deeper into Joshua's insights on Azos Finance and the future of impact assets, you can watch the full presentation from the TEC Talk event here.
