Trueque

The Redes de Trueque (Barter Networks) evolved in Argentina in the mid 1990s in response to the economic crisis and collapse of the national currency, the peso.

The network created a countrywide chain of community markets, which used their own currency, the ‘Credito’, to facilitate exchange of goods and services.

Acceptance of the Creditos of other markets was voluntary, while overall administration and structure of both the network and currency was entirely decentralised.

While this, along with the largely spontaneous nature of its appearance, left the currency vulnerable to fraud, the trueques and Creditos allowed countless people to survive a severe economic crisis, with membership peaking at 2.5 million individuals across 4,600 centres in 2001.

Argentina’s trueque networks demonstrate both the potential of community currencies to function as alternative mediums of exchange during economic crises and the need to develop more accountable and resilient networks in preparation for such an eventuality.