How could blockchain be a key resource in the value creation process of a local currency? A case study centered on Eusko
Fabienne Pinos*
* IUT de Bayonne et du Pays Basque, Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, Bayonne, France. fabienne.pinos@univ-pau.fr
Abstract
Blockchain is seen as a major financial innovation for the years to come; it interests financial industry as well as some local currencies. Thus, it seems appropriate to analyze how Blockchain could be a key resource in the value creation process of a local currency. Our article aims first to analyze the potential contributions of Blockchain for local currencies. Then, we compare these contributions to the key resources and activities identified in the study of the value creation process of Eusko, the first European currency in circulation since the end of 2018. Launched in June 2011, managed by the association Euskal Moneta (EM), this initiative aims at creating value that can be considered as public value (Moore, 1995). We use the canvas of Osterwalder & al. (2011) to identify the key resources and activities of EM’s business model and explore how blockchain technology might or might not support them. We show that several factors can slow or even preclude the adoption of such a technology in an innovative context that solicits, in various forms, the adaptive capacities of project stakeholders. Through this case study, we wish to contribute to develop knowledge about economic models of local currencies.
Keywords
Local currency, blockchain, value creation, trust, transition.
To cite this article: Pinos, F. (2020) ‘How could blockchain be a key resource in the value creation process of a local currency? A case study centered on eusko’ International Journal of Community Currency Research Volume 24 (Summer 2020) 1-13; http://www.ijccr.net; ISSN 1325-9547; DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2020.008
The paper aims to show the impact that a complementary currency may have on a national economy from a theoretical point of view. A system dynamics model is created to describe the mechanics of money issuance in capitalist economies as well as in economies where there is no inside money. As an example, the first outcomes of a barter network implemented in 2008 by the STRO foundation in El Salvador (called Punto Transacciones) are presented and analyzed. Finally, using data from a complementary currency experience in El Salvador the spending multiplier is calculated. The main result shows that there is a greater spending multiplier in digital community currencies systems than in regular money market. Although the magnitude of PT network is still negligible from a macroeconomic point of view, the result is a desired outcome which may help to cushion the impact of macroeconomic shocks on labour market, contributing to stabilize aggregate demand.
IJCCR 
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