Communal currencies: keeping it in the community

This innovation is one of our 22 trends and business opportunities for 2022.

Local communities rely on national currencies for daily transactions. But what if the shilling, rand or dollar is unreliable? Community Inclusion Currencies offer an alternative: regional currencies that supplement legal tender. Decoupled from national monetary policies and global trade fluctuations, CICs are tied to local production and trade, providing a stable way to do business. UNICEF Venture Fund recently backed CIC organizer Grassroots Economics.

The growing dissatisfaction with capitalist corruption is strengthening desire for local autonomy and control, with crowdsourced communities functioning as a resilient tool to achieve that self-determination. 

The transferable insight here? Incentivize consumers to nurture their surroundings and keep funds (whatever the currency may be!) within their community. How can you contribute to communal circularity?