During the course of the 21st Century, nation-states fell more and more into decline. With them, old government-backed currencies were rendered unstable at best, worthless more often. A handful of megacorporations came to dominate the world economy, but these entities required some sort of a currency to facilitate and quantify trade.

CURRENCY: A n economic system typically requires a form of money which is at least somewhat stable to grow. Big Fiance to the rescue! The standard money unit across the world is the Coin (trademark). Using the same wisdom that created the estate crisis of 2008, financial institutions began selling these gestalt currencies. Basically, a bank takes money from a hundred different currencies and mixes them in a pot. Then, the pot is mixed and divided into one hundred pieces of mixed wealth. These pieces are then resold at profit as Coins.

There is no physical version of a Coin. It’s a cryptocurrency which is strictly controlled by the servers of the megacorporations and only exists within their broadcasting ranges. Each coin is a unique line of digital code, tracked and continuously validated by the servers.

For those customers who want to see Coins in their hands, many transaction devices (like electronic money clips) can produce an image of a coin. These projections appear as holograms visible in low light, as 3D constructs in augmented reality, or both. The holograms, which look like gold coins about the size of a drink coaster, are particularly popular in gambling dens.

Coins are created by the Coining Minting Authority, a cabal of the largest banks and megacorporationas. The supply of Coins is a strictly controlled business by the Authority. How many coins actually exist at any time is a closely guarded secret. Attempts to counterfeit Coins and rumors of such attempts are taken seriously by the Authority and get investigated quickly by the Authority’s own paramilitary.

THE BARTER ECONOMY

Not everyone uses Coins. Not everyone has Coins to use. Barter remains as popular of a form of commerce as it ever was. Bartered trade of goods for goods is preferred by some for two distinct benefits. One one, it avoids tracking software used by megas. Another benefit is that it avoids the sale taxes levied by nations on their respective citizens.

Some tradesmen who hate capitalism pride themselves on never using currency, only trade.