# Give Gate Process

Every originator passes through five sequential gates. Gates 1 and 2 are pass/fail — failure at either disqualifies entirely. Gates 3 and 4 produce numeric scores. Gate 5 is a bonus for field-building contribution.

## Gate 1 — Financial Integrity (Pass / Fail)

Evaluates whether the originator operates a sound credit business:

* Borrower transparency and loan structure quality
* Default history and disclosure
* Rate fairness
* On-chain verifiability of pool data

**Failing Gate 1 disqualifies the originator entirely.** No amount of impact can compensate for a fundamentally unsound lending operation.

## Gate 2 — Regenerative Alignment (Pass / Fail)

Assesses two dimensions:

* **Social floor:** Does lending genuinely benefit excluded borrowers and their communities?
* **Ecological ceiling:** Is the lending sector aligned with ecological safety? Does it avoid resource damage?

**Failing Gate 2 disqualifies the originator.** Profitable lending that is extractive or ecologically harmful is not eligible.

## Gate 2B — Bennett Structural Alignment (Score: 1–3)

A six-dimension evaluation that maps the originator onto a structural spectrum:

| Score | Classification       | Meaning                                           |
| ----- | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| 1     | Conventional         | Standard fintech/DeFi with no regenerative intent |
| 2     | Sustainable DeFi     | Genuine inclusion mission with measured outcomes  |
| 3     | Regenerative Finance | Structurally transformative, systems-level impact |

The Bennett Average across all six dimensions must be **1.5 or above** to qualify for inclusion in the USDREFI basket.

## Gate 3 — Social Score (0–50 points)

Quantitative scoring across five social dimensions:

* Financial inclusion depth
* Loan fairness and terms
* Employment and livelihood impact
* Community wealth effects
* Gender equity

## Gate 4 — Ecological Score (0–50 points)

Quantitative scoring across five ecological dimensions:

* Ecological activity type
* Carbon impact
* Biodiversity effects
* Circularity practices
* Verifiability of environmental claims

## Gate 5 — Field-Building Bonus (0–20 points)

Bonus points awarded for contributions that strengthen the broader ReFi ecosystem:

* Open-source software and tooling
* Published frameworks and methodologies
* Documented pilot programs
* Openness and data sharing

## Combined Score

The **Gate 3 + Gate 4** total (0–100) plus the **Gate 5** bonus determines the originator's final score and [tier placement](https://docs.regenerative.fi/credit-curation/broken-reference).