RES (Belgium)
RES is a Belgian complementary currency that has organised interest-free trade between businesses since 1996. Members earn euro-RES by selling goods and services within the network and spend those credits with other members, turning spare capacity into extra sales without taking on a bank loan. Individuals can buy euro-RES at a discount and pay at participating merchants. Around 2,000 businesses and tens of thousands of cardholders keep value circulating in the local economy rather than leaking out of it.
A durable, genuinely adopted business mutual-credit currency that keeps value circulating locally, but hard-pegged to the euro and run by a single centralised operator — strong traction and longevity, weak on monetary sovereignty and independence.
M69 Score
Scored against the Money2069 Manifesto — see methodology. Higher = more aligned.
Detailed Rating Breakdown
Issuance Model3x3.0
Units are created by mutual credit tied to real trade — businesses earn euro-RES by making actual sales, and the credit is interest-free rather than debt-with-interest. Supply is elastic and contracts as credits are spent. But issuance is permissioned (members only) and denominated 1:1 to the euro, so it lacks a sovereign real-economy index.
Spending Power Stability2x3.0
euro-RES holds a hard 1:1 parity with the euro, so it inherits the euro's spending power and its inflation. The parity has held stably for over 25 years, but there is no independent index or mechanism targeting real purchasing power beyond tracking the euro.
Fiat Independence & Interoperability2x2.0
The unit of account is the euro and consumer entry is via euro purchase, making the system functionally euro-denominated. Its one point of independence is that circulating value is mutual-credit, not held as fiat reserves, but the pricing and settlement frame is entirely fiat.
Traction2x4.0
Live and active for nearly 30 years — roughly 2,000 member businesses across sectors and tens of thousands of consumer cardholders, with recent 2025-2026 operational activity (digital payment rollout, governance assemblies). Prices are quoted in RES within the network and it is recognised in academic and complementary-currency literature. Small user base relative to national scale caps the score.
Sovereignty2.0
A single Belgian company operates the ledger and could suspend the system; funds and credit lines run through a central custodian, and the platform is proprietary and jurisdiction-bound. No censorship-resistance or self-hosting.
Governance2.0
Operated as a commercial cooperative with member assemblies, giving some structured decision-making, but monetary parameters are set centrally and transparency is limited to members rather than publicly auditable.
Resilience3.0
Has survived multiple macro cycles including the 2008 crisis while holding parity, runs on a simple, well-understood model, and is self-funded through its commission on RES turnover. Centralised infrastructure is the main single point of failure.
Inclusivity3.0
Open to businesses and individuals within Belgium at low consumer cost and with equal in-network rules, but participation is geographically bound to the Belgian network and businesses undergo membership onboarding, so it is not globally accessible.