Traditional Banks
Using highly complex and
nested IT Infrastructure
Crypto Currencies
Using blockchain technology with still limited scalability
to create transaction networks
Community Currencies
Using centralized transaction engines
with web frontends
Bridging these worlds?
Credit or payment networks are far from to be interoperable.
Is there a way to build bridges between theme?
We think there is!
Initiatives as interledger lying out now the path to create a common protocol for different kind of payment systems. We from moneygrid build a ramp to use permissoned blockchain technology and protocols as interledger to use for Community or Corporate Currencies. But not to neglect the knowledge from software tools that are in use for Community Currencies.
Our aim is to create a platform with tool for a more divers economy. This site is a starting point an will inform about the progress of our plans and other related news.
P2P cross trading
Trying to find currency traders for every possible pair of currencies or ledgers is unrealistic. The number of possible combinations explodes as the number of ledgers increases.
Using of intermediary
Using intermediary - in Ripple/Interledger terms marketmakers- reduces the complexity dramatically. But still every possible exchange is possible.
Using structured intermediary
Moneygrids approach to this is using structured intermediary. That allows to connect and exchange currencies, that are from completely different kind. Most of the community currencies are working mainly in island mode. So a free exchange would destroy their "business model" immediately.
Money Systems
Short introduction
Money is not a neutral thing like water. Money is always designed and does promote cultural, or more often power distribution related values.
Philosopher David Hume wrote that “money is not…one of the subjects of commerce; but only the instrument which men have agreed upon to facilitate the exchange of one commodity for another. It is none of the wheels of trade. It is the oil which renders the motion of the wheels more smooth and easy.”
So there are clearly different kind of money. But to understand which type of money is good in serving the needs in a given situation or not is not so easy. A good overview of new types of currencies and how the existent currencies could be improved is to find in the article from John Rogers:
http://www.worldeconomicsassociation.org/newsletterarticles/new-currencies/
The following video "Credits, 3 kinds" from Paul Grignon displays the basic differences between IOU, FIAT Currencies and so called Production Credits:
Systemic and technical information
And a bit of the story behind
Moneygrid is born out of the vision that currency systems should be as diverse as possible and that they should connected to each other if it does make sense.
The background of the founders is rooted in the field of the European community currency system scene, so many details and idea are born out of the needs and form of existence of CC's in the German speaking part of Europe. But of course there are many other influences from all over the world.
If your interested to follow our path and how our approach has been worked out, it is a good idea to read the related papers in a chronological way.
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Huber, L. and Martignoni, J. (2013) ‘Improving Complementary Currency Interchange By A Regional Hub-Solution’ International Journal of Community Currency Research 17 (A) 1-7 ISSN 1325-9547 [ download]
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Huber L. (2014) Monetary-Smart-Grid, How to allow interoperability of Community and Corporate Currencies through software and governance standards, [ download]
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Martignoni, J., (2015) ‘Cooperation and Intertrade between Community Currencies : From fundamentals to rule-making and clearing systems, including a case study of the Zurich Area, Switzer- land’ International Journal of Community Currency Research 19 (D) 137-151 <www.ijccr.net> ISSN 1325-9547 [ download]
(Please note that this papers are due to the technical progress of the crypto-ledger technology partly outdated)
There are now many aspects that we would see a bit different, but in general the approach we did describe as monetary smart grid is worth to be deepen and hopefully integrated into software. Partially this deepening and development has already begun and we will present on this site from time to time some milestones.
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