Is Blockchain a Game-Changer for Social Currency Systems?

Raphael Porcherot (), Sebastian Valdecantos (), Ricardo Orzi () and Federico Camargo
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Raphael Porcherot: IDHES - Institutions et Dynamiques Historiques de l'Économie et de la Société - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UP8 - Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - UEVE - Université d'Évry-Val-d'Essonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - ENS Paris Saclay - Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, ACT - Analyse des Crises et Transitions - LABEX ICCA - UP13 - Université Paris 13 - Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UPCité - Université Paris Cité - Université Sorbonne Paris Nord - Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
Sebastian Valdecantos: AAU - Aalborg University [Denmark]
Ricardo Orzi: Universidad Nacional de Luján [Buenos Aires]

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Abstract: Social currencies can make a valuable contribution to sustainability as they strengthen solidarity markets, a specific exchange practice that enhances the resilience of their surrounding environmental, social and human systems. Until now, the need to secure trust in a currency has been a major challenge for social currency initiatives not backed by the State. The emergence of Blockchain, which offers security, transparency and auditability to currencies and transactions it supports, seemingly circumvents this issue. This raises the question that this paper seeks to address: is Blockchain a game-changer for bottom-up solidarity economy initiatives? The methodological approach draws on a multidimensional conceptualization of trust that recognizes three components: ethical, hierarchical and methodical trust. It uses Moneda PAR, an Argentinian Blockchain-based social currency, as a case study and draws on use data, participant surveys and direct observation by the authors as action researchers to explore social currency and solidarity economy development in relation to currency performance on each dimension of trust. Findings from the case show that despite strengthening hierarchical and methodical trust, Blockchain needs to be articulated with additional market-building strategies to be a true game-changer in the development of social currency systems.

Keywords: special-purpose money; social currencies; Blockchain; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-06-29
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme, nep-mac and nep-pay
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Published in Sustainability Science, 2024, ⟨10.1007/s11625-024-01522-5⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04599645

DOI: 10.1007/s11625-024-01522-5

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