La Gonette
Citizen-run local complementary currency for the Lyon region, launched November 2015 and run by a democratic member association. Circulates as paper notes and a digital version (launched 2019), pegged 1:1 to the euro with reserves held at ethical banks (La Nef, Crédit Coopératif). Live network stats on the official site: 541,512 gonettes in circulation, 401 accepting businesses/associations, 1,785 registered users; backed by the City of Lyon, Villeurbanne and the Lyon Métropole. Evidence: official site live with current circulation counters and monthly newsletters (checked 2026-07-18); French Wikipedia article (updated April 2026) independently corroborates launch, mechanics and active status.
A textbook healthy French local currency: democratically governed, debt-free full-reserve issuance, decade-long track record and real municipal backing — but structurally an amplifier of the euro (hard parity, fiat reserves, banking dependency) with small scale (~1.8K users, 401 businesses). Weighted M69 score ≈ 2.7: partially aligned — strong on community and inclusivity, weak on fiat independence.
M69 Score
Scored against the Money2069 Manifesto — see methodology. Higher = more aligned.
Detailed Rating Breakdown
Issuance Model3x3.0
Full-reserve euro conversion: debt-free issuance (IM-02 high) with symmetric two-way elasticity via reconversion (IM-04/IM-05 strong), but a single association issuer (IM-01 low) and no link to a real-economy index (IM-03 low).
Spending Power Stability2x3.0
Hard 1:1 EUR parity held for a decade of operation (SPS-04 strong), but the benchmark is a single fiat currency (SPS-02 weak) and the design conflates price stability with purchasing power — it imports euro inflation (SPS-05 low).
Fiat Independence & Interoperability2x1.0
Unit of account is the euro (FI-01 1), reserves are 100% fiat deposits at partner banks (FI-02 1), and operation depends on banking relationships (FI-03 low). No transition path away from fiat; it is euro-amplifying by design.
Traction2x3.0
10 years of continuous operation (TR-02 4), 401 accepting businesses (TR-04 3), ~1.8K registered users (TR-03 2), strong institutional partners — City of Lyon, Métropole, La Nef, Crédit Coopératif (TR-07 4) — and an active association (TR-06 4). Prices effectively euro-denominated at parity (TR-05 2-3); scale small, growth modest.
Sovereignty2.0
Association-controlled and fully dependent on French jurisdiction and partner banks (SO-01/SO-03 low); digital accounts are custodial (SO-04 low). Paper notes retain cash-grade privacy (SO-08 mid). A state or bank decision could halt it.
Governance3.0
Democratic one-member-one-vote association with public assemblies (GO-01/GO-02 fair) and disclosed finances (GO-03 mid), but no structural protection of monetary rules beyond statutes (GO-07/GO-08 low).
Resilience3.0
Survived 10 years including COVID (RE-01 3); the model is simple enough to be maintained by volunteers (RE-04 5); but funding leans on memberships and municipal subsidies (RE-07 2-3) and the La Nef banking partnership is a noted single dependency (RE-06 mid).
Inclusivity4.0
Open to anyone in the region at near-zero cost (IN-01 4, IN-02 5), equal rules for all members (IN-05 5), light identity for digital accounts (IN-06 3); no specific underbanked focus (IN-03 3) and no anti-concentration mechanism (IN-07 3).