https://civicmediaclass.mit.edu/2015/03/18/making-local-currencies-easy/ Wed, 18 Mar 2015 21:18:19 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.2 https://civicmediaclass.mit.edu/2015/03/18/making-local-currencies-easy/#comment-65 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 21:18:19 +0000 http://civic-media-class.wordpress.brownbag.me/?p=457#comment-65 Interesting question of how do we create the kind of infrastructure bitcoin has but for community currencies like BerkShares. One of my favorite examples of local currency used for civic revival was Macon Money (http://civictripod.com/games/macon-money/), a game which forced people from disparate parts of Macon, Georgia to find each other in order to redeem “bonds” worth $10–100. There was no complicated technology involved in the use of the money or play—anyone who receive a bond in the mail could play. How do you deal with the question of inclusivity that would make the electronic trade systems usable for folks? How would integrate into their everyday lives and how could the management of the currency be a civic process itself—something like participatory budgeting in which a portion of a city’s budget is offered to the citizens to determine how to spend it. I would love to see a categorization of the civic uses of these currencies too: the assisting the elderly example from Japan is a great start!

]]>