There are now hundreds of thousands of local currencies operating around the world.
They serve their local economies, and all are small in scale (even in comparison with alternatives such as Bitcoin).
But one of the largest and most successful examples of a local currency, ‘Berkshares‘, just got bigger — with a $500,000 grant to expand the value of notes in circulation and also start offering loans.
While none of these local currencies is going to start competing for global commerce any time soon, managers of global businesses trading and lending in western Massachusetts just found their lives got a little bit tougher.