Tokenomics Beyond the Blockchain: Bristol Pay Building Forward Resilience in the Legacy of the Bristol Pound

Abstract

In the world of community currencies Bristol Pound was a success. Yet in the realm of behavioural change, it failed to bring about the great transition. In the face of the enviroclypse we need a new approach. By using countable tokens to encourage positive flows in social capital and environmental capital, rather than financial capital, Bristol Pay CIC is designing a new complementary system. This paper contains a historical review of the Bristol Pound with the lessons learned: the unintended barriers to entry for the majority of the population, the lack of value propositions to engage people; the technical shortcomings. It then outlines the hypotheses behind Bristol Pay, from behaviour change to gamification, and from multi-capital accounting to social economics.