Multi-LETSystems


Multi-LETS is an innovative approach that expands upon LETSystem use. Most people belong to many communities; work, leisure activities, family, religious affiliations, education, etc. each with its own unique currency. City or regional scale systems will develop as well as smaller, more local or affiliative systems.

How big should a LETSystem be? They should be all sizes, with people holding several accounts in as many communities as they belong to, and to larger systems. Smaller systems are a more appropriate place to trade for goods and services that are easily available locally. Then the user is providing a service to or receiving service from their immediate communtiy. On the other hand, the larger city-scale systems can provide the less commonly available services to all. For many services, it may be more convenient to trade with people in your own neighbourhood, because of a common interest or simply because they are closer.

This possibility is managed by the use of multi-LETS.

Essentially a multi-LETS provides an accounting service for many LETSystems. The design allows people to trade in any number of LETSystems that are recognised by their Registry.

Registries are separate entities from LETSystems. The registry simply assures the provision of accounting services to all users. A LETSystem will usually have its own Stewards and board of Advisors, and its participants may come from many registries.

The multi-LETS Registry keeps all the accounts for each LETSystem and ensures that each user has a unique account ID. (see below)

All registries run a LETSystem linking all its users. Each account-holder then has, at least one LETSystem in common with every other account-holder in the registry.

N.B. This ID is the same for each account a user opens with each LETSystem. Each system then has its own unique system ID. This arrangement of IDs is based on Internet addresses.

For example, my ID is 'spode' and I open an account with the Greater Manchester LETSystem Registry (gmlr), whose ID is 'gm' So my address is 'spode@gm'. If I then open a second account in the London LETSystem, my ID is still 'spode@gm' and both my accounts are handled by gmlr. Any transactions on the London LETSystem are then routed to gmlr for processing.


Comments to: lcs@mars.ark.com

Version #003 27-7-96