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Server-side software for managing peer-to-peer trading networks (circular multilateral barter).

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cmbarter

"Circular Multilateral Barter" (CMB) is server-side software for managing peer-to-peer trading networks. CMB is aimed at supplying entrepreneurs with a way to exchange goods and services within a p2p-network, without using money, overcoming the "double coincidence of wants" problem, inherent to traditional barter.

Most importantly, CMB allows traders to issue their own currencies (called "products"), which others can redeem, trade, or make payments with. One thing that distinguishes CMB from other "credit commons" is that all debts in CMB are user-to-user debts. There is no central administrative authority to decide who deserves to be trusted and who does not. Because of this, CMB can scale-up very well, so that local communities can be seamlessly aggregated into larger ones.

Another way of seeing CMB is as a partnership of independent Local Exchange Trading Systems, having a common marketplace for exchanging one LETS-currency for another (via circular trade).

Features:

  • Does not suffer the double coincidence of wants problem. The trader you deliver goods to and the trader you obtain what you need from do not need to be the same person, so there is much more flexibility for arranging trades. That is: you supply products to customers who trust you, and you receive products from partners whom you trust.

  • Invulnerable to sudden changes in the value of money. CMB uses money solely as a standard of value for a short period of time (typically a day).

  • Allows users to issue their own currencies (called "products"). Therefore, trading is not limited by the global scarcity of money or any other commodity.

  • Users can make direct payments to each other.

  • Convenient to use on smartphones. Works even on very old phones (WAP 2.0).

The easiest way to install CMB is from the docker images.

You can see it the manual here.