Virtual Currency in Buenos Aires

Javier Goglino is an engineer. He created a bartering system, christened “Proyecto Mutuo,”or“Mutual Project,” in his community of Martínez, a Buenos Aires suburb.

Mutual Project is a system in which members can exchange goods and services instead of money. Each member of the community has the option to offer a service or goods in exchange for “merits,” which later help them to acquire new goods and services. The merits register virtually in the participants’ accounts.

Mutual Project already has 79 members, from translators and web designers to musicians and plumbers. It fulfills an average of 14 transactions per month, with peaks of up to 30. Members exchange about 1,400 merits per month, with peaks of up to 3,000 merits.

Social Currency Systems Emerge to Supplement Money in Argentina