NetzBon
NetzBon is Basel's local currency for the social and solidarity economy, issued since 2005 by the Netz Soziale Ökonomie cooperative at parity with the Swiss franc and accepted by around 100 businesses across the Basel region. Its digital version, eNetzBon, built on the privacy-preserving GNU Taler payment system with the Bern University of Applied Sciences and EU Horizon support, brings the paper voucher onto smartphones with anonymous payments.
One of Europe's longest-running social-economy currencies, and since its GNU Taler-based eNetzBon rollout the rare local currency whose digital rails are privacy-preserving free software rather than a proprietary app. Structurally it remains a fully reserved franc voucher — stable, inclusive, democratically run, and fiat-bound.
M69 Score
Scored against the Money2069 Manifesto — see methodology. Higher = more aligned.
Detailed Rating Breakdown
Issuance Model3x3.0
Debt-free, rule-based issuance by the cooperative when members exchange Swiss francs at par (IM-01: 3, IM-02: 5); supply expands and contracts with local demand (IM-04: 4) though redemption carries fees and note-expiry friction (IM-05: 3), and the anchor is fiat deposits, not a real-economy index (IM-03: 2). Average 3.4 rounds to 3.
Spending Power Stability2x3.0
Two decades of unbroken parity (SPS-04: 5) against the Swiss franc — the strongest single-fiat benchmark available, per the framework's own example (SPS-02: 3) — via full-reserve convertibility (SPS-01: 3). The mechanism is Basel-regional by design (SPS-06: 2) and long-term purchasing power beyond the CHF is not separately addressed (SPS-05: 3). Weighted 3.3.
Fiat Independence & Interoperability2x1.0
CHF-pegged with CHF reserves and banking dependence (FI-01: 1, FI-02: 1, FI-03: 1, FI-05: 1). The one genuine lift: eNetzBon rides GNU Taler, a free-software open payment standard with independent deployments elsewhere, giving the currency standardized, auditable rails (FI-08: 3). Weighted 1.3.
Traction2x3.0
Twenty-plus years of continuous operation (TR-02: 5) with ~100 accepting businesses (TR-04: 3), national television coverage twice on SRF, a Wikipedia entry, and academic involvement from BFH (TR-08: 4), plus a live partner web spanning the Soziale Ökonomie network, BFH, and EU Horizon (TR-07: 4). User counts stay in the low thousands (TR-03: 2) and pricing remains franc-equivalent (TR-05: 2). Weighted 3.1.
Sovereignty2.0
Swiss single-jurisdiction cooperative (SO-03: 1) that authorities could halt (SO-01: 2), but its digital layer is fully free software anyone can self-host (SO-02: 3) and GNU Taler's blind signatures give payers real transaction privacy while keeping merchant income taxable (SO-08: 4, SO-07: 3). Reserve backing remains cooperative policy rather than code (SO-09: 2). Weighted 2.5.
Governance3.0
Cooperative one-member-one-vote governance (GO-01: 4, GO-04: 4) with documented social-economy principles (GO-07: 3); deliberation is internal rather than publicly archived (GO-03: 3) and monetary rules follow the same process as operational ones (GO-08: 3). Weighted 3.2.
Resilience3.0
Twenty-five years of survival through multiple redesigns (RE-01: 3), a structurally run-proof full-reserve model (RE-06: 4), simple core design with paper fallback (RE-04: 4), and diversified funding from the cooperative, foundations, and EU Horizon research money (RE-07: 3). Thin organizational redundancy is the weak point (RE-02: 2). Weighted 2.9.
Inclusivity4.0
Zero-cost entry (IN-02: 5), equal rules for all (IN-05: 5), anonymous payment in both paper and Taler-based digital form (IN-06: 4), a social-integration mission through the Soziale Ökonomie network (IN-03: 4), and note-expiry fees that mildly discourage hoarding (IN-07: 4). Basel-region restriction caps universal access (IN-01: 2). Weighted 3.9.