Nomadic Magazine Jun. 2013 | Page 20

MONEY paying in kind laura secorun bitcoinatm Spain is handling its fiscal problems differently one of spain’s new social currencies The Eurozone financial crisis brought Spain to its knees. The economy is all that taxi drivers want to talk about; cities are filled with “For sale” signs and job vacancies instantly receive thousands of applications. The increase in unemployment and the decrease of purchasing power are pushing Spaniards to look for new solutions. A number of schemes are being set up to try and minimise the effects of the crisis. The most popular so far have been ‘Time Banks’. In 2008 only a handful existed. Today there are more than 300 operating across the country. The concept is simple: users get ‘credit’ for every hour of work they do and then can spend that credit on services provided by other users. This works well in big cities such as Barcelona where the fast-paced lifestyle makes time a precious commodity. There are 16 banks operating in the Catalan capital with users exchanging everything from French tuition to hairdressing services. Another popular initiative is the ‘alternative’ or ‘social’ currencies. With names such as ‘Eco’ or ‘Puma’, these competitors of the euro are a way for locals to exchange time devoted to community projects for goods. Villanova i la Geltrú is one of the 30 Spanish towns using an alternative currency – ‘Turuta’. Ton Dalmau from ECOL3VNG, the association that created it, explains: “There are products that we can not produce here, like a cars or a computers, and for those we need a global currency. But there are others that, until fairly recently, were produced locally like food and clothes... and there can very well be a local currency for those.” Farmers and small shop-owners have been the first to welcome the system as a way to incentivise local trade. Ton says: “It’s just like a small Euro but unlike the Euro, this currency stays here and generates value in the community instead of escaping out into the speculative market.” Oriol Roca Sagalés, Professor of Economics at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona thinks that this is not an original concept. “Alternative currencies are common practice in times of crisis and they definitely work in very small economies. They have the advantage of helping local trade but they cannot be a replacement for the euro because if they decided to expand, they would face the same laws of monetary economics as any other currency.” Spain may finally be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Luis de Guindos, Minister of Economy, recently declared that the country’s financial situation would start improving in the second half of 2013. Meanwhile, these initiatives are helping some Spanish people fight despair. // Laura Secorun BITCOIN: A virtual reality Digital currencies The world’s only digital currency, Bitcoin, is becoming very real. After conquering the online world, Bitcoin could now have its own ATMs. At a recent conference in San Diego, California, the companies Robocoin and Bitcoin ATM announced the launch of machines that will allow users to buy Bitcoin using real notes or turn it into other currencies such as US dollars. The proposal has been met with widespread criticism as it is feared the ATMs might function as money laundering devices. Bitcoin users support the project arguing that it would only be illegal if there were an object to launder. Ron Swanson, a lawyer and Bitcoin user, explains: “Bitcoin is not actually a currency, it’s an asset. Therefore it is not illegal to exchange it for US dollars.” Despite the controversy surrounding it, the creators claim to have received orders for Bitcoin ATMs from as many as 30 countries. Both Los Angeles and Cyprus have been mentioned as potential launching pads for the new machines. While the future of Bitcoin and its impact on the real market is unknown, the rapid advancement of ‘virtual currencies’ is apparent. // Elizabeth Machuca 18