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Peer-To-Peer Bartering To Replace Money?
from the maybe-not... dept
Nicholas Negroponte was a huge supporter of electronic currencies, even as one after another failed. Now, he's back, suggesting that the next version of "electronic currency" will simply make use of peer-to-peer technology to complete multi-party barter exchanges. Of course, the whole reason money was invented was to do away with the need for bater, since it's tough to match up an even exchange in a barter system. Instead, you use cash as a more widely accepted proxy for a product that could be traded in a barter system. However, Negroponte thinks that the ease of money has nothing on... um... the complexities of a peer-to-peer barter system. Why? Maybe because it seems cool. Otherwise, it doesn't seem to make that much sense. Admittedly, there are new forms of barter currency and things like freecycle catching on to help people give away (or get) stuff for free. However, is it really that much easier to have a P2P system find a limo driver who wants a fish you can provide, and a dentist who wants a limo ride, so that you can get your teeth cleaned in exchange for fish (the actual example Negroponte uses)? Isn't it just easier, and much more efficient, to sell your fish in the open market and pay the dentist with your cash, while letting the limo driver fend for himself?
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P2P Money
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Decentralised barter system
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pirates and tax evasion
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barter and personal money
Michael Linton 1982
barter in its simplest form is inefficient but
personal money as described by Linton is becoming the way of the future
many barter trading companies are charging outrageous percentages for their hosting services
this is so unnecessary
one company i found doesn't even charge transaction fees like your bank might
they charge advertising fees for businesses
they handle all transactions processing and hosting for the income derived from the ads
personal money is on the rise
and for those who know the theory of multilets as developed by Michael Linton and Angus Soutar IS the way of future economic interaction
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Money can be seen as a measurement of IOUs
Unless Peer-to-peer forms of currency become acceptable as tax payments, they'll never replace conventional money, but that's not really their aim.
Large scale peer-to-peer trading between people, setting up chains of IOUs based on individual reputations, is certainly a conceivable outcome of the culture of trust networks inherent within social media. If they can offer convenience and qualities that real money can't provide (e.g. abundance rather than scarcity), then perhaps they'll catch on to be a complement to national currencies in the future. I making my own small attempt to create a peer-to-peer bartering network in the UK called Favabank. The future of money may well be different from the past.
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