Hi! I’m a local, wife, and mom of 3… also a grad student at UNH studying community Development Policy and Practice. I’m exploring the idea of using a local Blockchain currency. It would be created and issued by a community center… the idea is to accept membership fees on a sliding scale and issue equal numbers of coins per person then allow them to use it to meet basic needs and exchange locally/with one another/anyone who will accept it. Effectively, boost for families making less than living wage. Also, a more efficient delivery of services for eligible low income members. A strong (i.e. Immediately fungible) introduction of a local digital currency. I’m curious how bitcoin enthusiasts would react to this!! I’m here to learn and discuss.
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Welcome Jocelyn. The forum is small, but we have some good people here, including several regional cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Small world Jocelyn. This is Michael Gordon.
Are you referring to using existing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and/or Dash or creating a whole new cryptocurrency with its own blockchain?
If so I’d say to keep things less complicated you’d be better using an existing cryptocurrencty.
Hi Michael! Yes, I’m talking about using Ethereum to create smart contracts so donors and investors can support activities that improve the social determinants of health in the area and boost the local economy. The center would convert their donations to a local currency and distribute it to the members. They (donors and investors) can work with local businesses and non profits to offer targeted goods and services to members the align with their missions. The idea there is that it cuts back on the work of reporting and grant making administration for them. I want to keep the money here, so a global digital currency is less appealing in that sense.
Smart contracts are created on Ethereum. If you’re using a smart contract to create a token on the Ethereum blockchain you’d then offer those tokens to participants. The investor would need to send Ether to your contract address then depending on how you configure the contract the contributor would receive said tokens.
For a simpler solution you might want to check out Waves. Similar concept but easier to create tokens. Full disclosure, I don’t know how to do either. https://wavesplatform.com/#info01_anchor
Now about persons using the currency at local businesses and/or amongst each other, if its another special currency like an Ethereum ERC20 Token or Waves created token that can get complicated. Sticking with something like Dash, Bitcoin, Ether or any crypto that has an easy to use wallet would be best. Tokens don’t have their own blockchain so said wallet must support the specific token.
I will check out waves, thanks! What I like about ethereum is that when the local currency is created, it can be used in any wallet that supports ethereum and it looks like you can allow minting without the mining, so a community center could act like a central bank in a local economy… but, you don’t lose the benefits of the decentralized ledger and no exchange intermediary. I do like Dash as a global option because of the distributed nodes that allow profit sharing without heavy equipment investments (not sure if I am understanding and explaining that in the technically correct way) and the fact that they are offering to fund projects… so if it turns out that a global currency is a better option, as you suggest, Dash is high on my list. Bitcoin benefits are mainly in the level of adoption already enjoyed here. Definitely keep the ideas and thoughts heading my way!! Thanks 
Welcome to the Shire forum. I’m quite new to crypto currencies but would be interested in this idea.
Hi Ian. Thanks for the welcome! What’s your favorite thread right now?
Tough question. Any thread with activity is my favorite. We’re trying to bring this forum back from the dead.
Ethereum tokens can’t be used in any Ethereum wallet. The wallet needs to support tokens and some mobile wallets don’t thus requiring the user to login to a computer and/or browser based wallet. Ease of access tokens will matter to your participants especially if they are low income and likely low tech.
Terms like “central bank” might send cryptocurrency enthusiasts running for the hills. Minting = printing money. Giving the central authority (smart contract owner) the ability to mint more tokens could devalue the existing tokens. If you have a set number of tokens not to be inflated that should make the tokens more valuable since the supply is limited. Most coins/tokens are divisible by at least 8 decimal points. So 1000 tokens = 100000000000 currency instances.
Dash is recently added to popular cryptocurrency vending machines. Bitcart.io offers gift cards in USD that can be paid for in Dash. I mention Dash or an existing currency as you stated “Immediately fungible”. In Keene if one needed to trade Dash for other currencies including USD they could do so quickly.
Thanks, Michael. From the Ethereum website, "We are going to create a digital token. Tokens in the ethereum ecosystem can represent any fungible tradable good: coins, loyalty points, gold certificates, IOUs, in game items, etc. Since all tokens implement some basic features in a standard way, this also means that your token will be instantly compatible with the ethereum wallet and any other client or contract that uses the same standards."
What am I missing when I read this to mean that a created token can be used in any Ethereum compatable wallet?
Agree that terms like “central bank” are problematic - It is one of the topics I am hoping to talk through. Central bank was created with the dual purpose of maintaining ‘max employment’ and controlling inflation… that would not be the purpose in this case. Also from the Ethereum website: “Centralized Administrator: All dapps are fully decentralized by default, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have some sort of central manager, if you want them to. Maybe you want the ability to mint more coins, maybe you want to ban some people from using your currency. You can add any of those features, but the catch is that you can only add them at the beginning, so all the token holders will always know exactly the rules of the game before they decide to own one. For that to happen, you need a central controller of currency. This could be a simple account, but could also be a contract and therefore the decision on creating more tokens will depend on the contract: if it’s a democratic organization that can be up to vote, or maybe it can be just a way to limit the power of the token owner.” What’s a better way to talk about this? OR a better way to do it? I know I’m missing something here and I think you’re helping me get at it! Thanks.
I looked at waves as you suggested. I like it! I wonder about the smart contracts being “non-turing-complete” - any insight into the limitations? Ethereum is ‘turing complete’ which is pretty appealing. But, I am operating with pretty limited understanding!
should we move this out of the introduction thread into cryptocurrency thread or something? we’re getting into it beyond a simple intro!
Cool idea!
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Yes. Likely a good idea to move this conversation to its own thread.