ReFi has emerged as an ecological movement and alternative financial system to accelerate the transition from an extractive to a regenerative economy. By integrating advanced technologies like blockchain with regenerative principles, ReFi seeks to create transparent and inclusive NbS, from agroforestry to wildlife restoration. A core principle of ReFi is to promote holistic approaches that address multiple impact dimensions beyond carbon offsetting, including biodiversity protection and community development. To achieve this, ReFi practitioners emphasise decentralised, bottom-up approaches that ensure equitable economic and social benefits for all stakeholders involved in climate resilience efforts. Despite these ambitious objectives and emerging global attention on ReFi, a significant research gap remains regarding its effectiveness, particularly in biodiversity-rich countries with large rural and Indigenous populations, such as Colombia. This study addresses this gap by comparing ReFi’s theoretical propositions, established through a literature review, with empirical evidence from a comparative case study of six ReFi initiatives operating in Colombia. The data obtained from semi-structured interviews with founders and practitioners provides valuable insights into the movement’s current state, significant challenges, and opportunities to progress. The research reveals that while ReFi has transformative potential for creating participatory solutions for planetary regeneration, it remains in its infancy and faces structural implementation and scalability barriers. These challenges are primarily linked to negative perceptions of cryptocurrency and Web3, the dominance of traditional carbon market entities, and difficulties in translating regenerative principles and technologies into actionable, grassroots solutions that communities can widely adopt.