Author

Topic: Bitcoin and LETS (Read 10798 times)

legendary
Activity: 938
Merit: 1001
bitcoin - the aerogel of money
March 11, 2011, 04:02:57 PM
#6
That's going to be a clash of cultures.

The LETS bunch are stauch believers in The Labour Theory of Value.

Good luck explaining the true nature of money to them.
legendary
Activity: 1372
Merit: 1002
March 11, 2011, 03:46:36 PM
#5
They were big in the 80s after the markets tanked and the economy went into a recession. They are handy fallbacks when the dominate monetary system falls.

Maybe encouraging those LETS "old timers" to use BC instead is the correct avenue. Hmm.


I doubt you can convince them to use bitcoin INSTEAD of LETS. You could try to convince them to use bitcoin instead of national currencies. That makes far more sense. You could to convince them to use bitcoin to trade between different LETS communities without using national currencies.
In fact, they don't need bitcoin to do that. They could run one Ripple network instead of two LETS. The problem is that right now the two communities should share the same server since Ripple doesn't have a distributed implementation yet.
Nevertheless, I think that all the different critics of national currencies (whether you prefer bitcoin, ripple, LETS, barter, gold or silver) have a lot to talk about.
hero member
Activity: 490
Merit: 511
My avatar pic says it all
March 15, 2010, 06:05:17 PM
#4
They were big in the 80s after the markets tanked and the economy went into a recession. They are handy fallbacks when the dominate monetary system falls.

Maybe encouraging those LETS "old timers" to use BC instead is the correct avenue. Hmm.
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 268
March 15, 2010, 04:49:59 AM
#3
Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS) also known as LETSystems are local, non-profit exchange networks in which goods and services can be traded without the need for printed currency. In some places, e.g. Toronto, the scheme has been called the Local Employment and Trading System.

Michael Linton originated the term "Local Exchange Trading System" in 1983 and, for a time ran the Comox Valley LETSystems in Courtenay, British Columbia. The system he designed was intended as an adjunct to the national currency, rather than a replacement for it, although there are examples of individuals who have managed to replace their use of national currency through inventive usage of LETS.[citation needed]

LETS networks use interest-free local credit so direct swaps do not need to be made. For instance, a member may earn credit by doing childcare for one person and spend it later on carpentry with another person in the same network. In LETS, unlike other local currencies, no scrip is issued, but rather transactions are recorded in a central location open to all members. As credit is issued by the network members, for the benefit of the members themselves, LETS are considered mutual credit systems. The time-based currency mentioned in United Nations Millennium Declaration C6 to Governments was a UNILETS United Nations International & Local Employment-Trading System to restructure the global financial architecture.
newbie
Activity: 24
Merit: 4
March 15, 2010, 02:22:01 AM
#2
Personally, I've heard about LETS before, but I can't quite recall it. Could you give some more information about LETS?
hero member
Activity: 490
Merit: 511
My avatar pic says it all
March 14, 2010, 03:11:30 PM
#1
Hey all,

I think it would be really neat if someone would approach/email (or whatever) all of the communities using LETS and got them involved in Bitcoin. Perhaps exchanging in/out of LETS could be achieved as well.

There is a lot of real world commerce (as in, not just on the internet) on the LETS system and I think it would benefit both systems to form some sort of alliance.

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