Plural Money for Edge City
Partner/s
Edge City
Location
Edge Esmeralda (California, USA) & Edge City Lanna (Thailand)
Dates
2024
Short description of the project
RadicalxChange piloted Plural Money, a community currency system, at two “pop-up village” events hosted by Edge City. The project experimented with features like a community treasury and exit controls to create a local medium of exchange that keeps value circulating within the community. The goal was to test a currency model that resists the value extraction common with universal currencies like the US Dollar or Bitcoin.
What problem did this project seek to address?
The project sought to address the problem of “universal” money, like dollars or Bitcoin, which incentivizes extracting value from local communities by encouraging selling to the highest bidder globally. This drains wealth and attention from the local context. Plural Money creates a “membrane” by making it costly to exchange the community currency for a universal one, thus keeping value circulating locally.
Who were the key audiences or communities of participants?
Residents of Edge Esmeralda and Edge City Lanna, temporary communities of innovators, builders, and thinkers from technology, science and society, including families, who gathered to experiment with new technologies and ways of living.
How does this support more democratic outcomes?
The Plural Money experiments gave Edge City residents direct control over their local economy. At Edge Esmeralda, the exit tax helped ensure that value generated by the community stayed within it. The second pilot in Thailand expanded on this by empowering participants to collectively decide what to produce and how to stimulate their own economy.
How did RxC add value/support this experiment?
RadicalxChange provided the conceptual framework for Plural Money, the technical infrastructure through the open-source ∈dges application, and direct facilitation and operational support throughout the two month-long pilot experiments.
What were the outcomes or impacts?
The initial pilot at Edge Esmeralda demonstrated the viability of the core concepts of trust pools and exit taxes. The second experiment at Edge City Lanna successfully introduced “∈dge markets” and a form of “fiscal stimulus,” which increased the currency’s utility and value for participants.
Are there any testimonials, documents, assets, links or other ways we can illustrate this project?
Janine Leger & Timour Kosters: Co-Founders of Edge City
https://www.radicalxchange.org/updates/blog/edges-a-plural-money-experiment/