7th Bulletin

Maro Bulletins, General Ecosystem

Notes from the First FairCoop General Assembly

firstassemblyOn the date of the First FairCoop Anniversary, September 17th at 19h CET, around 20 participants gathered from around the world from various FairCoop nodes for the first FairCoop Assembly, which was conducted over Telegram and using this online pad. For any futher detail on any of these points, please have a look here:
Among the issues discussed were:
1. Website improvements : Technical issues about the speed and maintenance of the FairCoop website were discussed.  More work needs to be done on this and there is a bounty for this work which you can access at /groups/faircoop-community/bounties-rewarding-projects-85590309/forum/topic/7-make-the-fair-coop-site-go-really-fast/
Participants also discussed ways to simplify our presentation of what FC actually is and how different parts, such as groups created in the FairNetwork, relate to each other so new people can understand it quickly. Further on, we will look at blockchain or p2p based social networks but for now we will continue using Telegram and the FairNetwork.
2. FairCoop Priorities for managing and distributing funds in the next months. 
For the next steps in FC development we need to focus on how to choose priorites, teams and funding of every project, in a way that the people are sustainably rewarded for their work. There is a need to find funding in order to be able to put together a stable team to focus on FairMarket development and communication. We need to be able to complement the system of bounties to make them more appealing.
FairMarket is high on the list of priorities, but also we need more uptake from shops, associations and large networks and groups such as OuiShare or large cooperatives.
Focus on things we can show to people to demonstrate that Faircoin can be  used – basically local nodes and FairMarket. Local nodes would include physical payments by SMS, paper tokens, or plastic cards (glownet.com example). On https://use.fair-coin.org there’s a list of projects collaborating. We must encourage simple online talks on Faircoin so people learn more about how to explain it and get the support they need to set up local nodes or points of contact like these.

FairCoop’s First Year

First anniversarymedWe are one! (year old). We celebrated our first anniversary with our first Global General Assembly, held simultaneously in several local nodes, and also online. About 20 members from Europe and South America gathered at their local nodes, and online, to discuss different issues related to FairCoop. In this article we will try and summarize some achievements and news from this first year of activity.
We are making some changes to our website to make it faster, simpler, and more accessible from slow connections, therefore more Global South-friendly.
We are simplifying the way we explain our ecology –the relationship between the different elements of our ecosystem– to make it easier to understand. We are also looking for a Flash-free alternative to our Prezi presentation.
We have drawn some international interest; we have been present, physically and virtually, in several fairs, congresses and events in different countries, like the FairCoin Week, the Summer Camp  in Greece and many more! We are also in the press. As a global virus, we are everywhere! Especially in Greece, where we are making a big effort in building alternatives to protect the Greek people from the financial terrrorist attacks it’s constantly suffering.
In these 12 months we have developed multiple apps and tools to make it really easy for everyone to use FairCoin. Now you can buy or sell FairCoins via wire transfer, credit card, or directly (and anonymously) with cash in one of our Points Of Exchange (POEs). You can also withdraw cash from an ATM without the need of having a bank account, thanks to our collaboration with ChipChap and HalCash. Plus, soon many Bitcoin ATMs will also work with FairCoin. With FairBill and Getfaircoin you can also get your FairCoin online. There’s even a paper wallet for offline payments.
CoopShares is a new way to invest in FairCoop, just with Faircoin or with a mixed option (faircoin + euros). It is also possible to contribute to our crowdfunding campaign. And of course, everyone is welcome to join the FairNetwork where they can keep up to date and leave their comments and questions.
We are out in the streets with our FairMarket. The list of merchants accepting FairCoin is still slow but steadily growing. We have launched several campaigns to attract users, and there are many more to come!
The network of local nodes keeps expanding. Some of the seeds we planted are growing into little trees in places such as Barcelona, Madrid, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Bilbao, Athens, Heraklion, Galiza, etc. A map with all the local nodes will be ready very soon.
Economic transparency is a priority for us. All income and expenses are published periodically. You can also check them directly on the blockchain.
Open assembly. From now on we will have monthly online meetings using Telegram, open to anyone wishing to participate. Just join the group! Next meeting is on October 15th, 2015.
…and there’s much more! We are very proud of Fair Coop’s achievments in this last year, but we are still far from becoming a global alternative for those who most need it. We are full of energy and commited to keep working on this fascinating project. Let’s keep infecting the filthy capitalist system with the virus of cooperation!

FairCoin expansion in Greece, news on La Directa

The (fascinating) history of the alternative cryptocurrency that could save Greece (and perhaps the world)

The activist Enric Duran, known as Robin Banks, and his collective launched FairCoin
Laia Gordi, London
31/07/2015

faircoin_shopping_2 la directaEnric Duran, also known as Robin Banks, meets me in an encrypted chat room because he still lives in hiding. “To survive I had to hack the monetary system, isn’t that funny?” he says.

“The first years of hiding in the underground, for security reasons I was using Bitcoin to manage some of the aspects of my situation,” explains Duran, who says that the more he learnt, the more he realized the potential of that “disruptive technology”. From then on, the idea of using a cryptocurrency, which allows you to avoid state and bank dependence, to advance the values of what he calls “the integral revolution” was born. He is talking here of a revolution which is nothing more, and nothing less, than a proposal for a post-capitalist society of Duran and the collective around him. Their idea is based on the re-empowerment of people in the decision-making process of all areas of our life, such as the economy, the politics, the society and the culture, among many others, and in a stateless environment. “In April 2014, I came to recover a cryptocurrency which has been abandoned, called Faircoin, and we used it as a tool to build a global open cooperative which we called FairCoop,” types Duran. Since then, with Thomas König, an Austrian programmer, who soon joined the project, this dispersed collective of activists, hackers and agitators have been dedicated to developing, testing and imagining everything that could be possible outside the capitalist world, the states, whilst under a cooperative umbrella and with a virtual currency.
“The first years of hiding in the underground I was using Bitcoin for security reasons to manage some aspects of my situation”, explained Duran.

Read more…

May every week be FairCoin Week!

faircoinweekimage

Wether it’s a coffee in Bar Elastiana in Dornbirn  (Austria), a book in the Φωτόδεντρο bookshop in Heraklion (Crete,Greece), or a meal at Terra, the restaurant in Ultramort (Catalunya), YOU CAN PAY IN FAIRCOIN!
This first FairCoin Week has managed to get lots of collectives, shops and businesses to join the initiative and to offer their clients the ability to pay for products and servicies using this alternative and fair cryptocurrency that we are betting on from FairCoop.
It has been an odyssey of sorts to run around different places explaining the project, installing wallets, resolving issues, and involving more and more actors for collective change towards that new economy we all deserve. Thanks to those who made it possible!
In a single week we have distributed more than 20k FairCoin, which included the 40 FAIR donations to those who applied between the 24th and 31st of July and the 200 FAIR donated to collectives who are now in our new directory https://use.fair-coin.org/directory/ created to globally map the Faircoin network
FairCoin Week has ended, but it has filled us with energy to continue promoting FairCoin, and not falter in the effort to grow, and to go on believing in a more solidary and fair economic system.
After FairCoin Week, let’s go on building the FairCoin era!
Please keep working with us and adding initiatives at https://use.fair-coin.org/ This is only the beginning 🙂

Summer Camp on!


summercamp_picturesThis summer, some people have bet on a different type of activism. They prepared their backpacks and filled them with the enthusiasm and motivation to help build a fairer world. And so began the adventure in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea!
Having come from different parts of the world (Alicante, Barcelona, Berlin, Bogota, Castellón, Madrid, Prague, Valencia …), these people landed on Crete bound for the FairCoop Summer Camp, to share experiences and knowledge,  build alternatives and interact with groups of local activists.
Whilst there, they are participating in various activities. Every day they work on projects related to the development, communication and dissemination of FairCoop (during FairCoin Week) and also get to know and work with different groups on the island.
The Summer Camp FairCoop team has already conducted several talks about Faircoop, monetary alternatives, cryptocurrencies, “Wallet Install Parties” and some weekend visits to explore the island’s projects, establish connections and strengthen local initiatives. The agenda is cooperative and open :).
At Rethymno summer camp participants spoke with members of the cooperative Halikouti coffee and with some farmers from the area, also they met with some cultural groups of students, with  radio Psalidi and with the anti-fascist movement, the Syntrofi restaurant, the Kivwtio group, the cooperative school Koxlias, the Kaloumpa coffee cooperative and the “without middle-men” solidarity network .
Heraklion is working daily with the groups and communities like Commons Lab (co- organizers of the Heraklion CommonsFest), Evangelismos Squat, the Platform group, the Network Project and social cooperative Apokinou Kalesa with 3 main development areas: agriculture, culture and education. Already there have been a couple of meetings on monetary alternatives for Greece and we expect to work on an agenda of concrete proposals to coordinate a network of collaboration and solidarity based on economic solidarity and a common infrastructure that includes multiple connections, trusted systems and tax disobedience among others.
 
We are only half-way through the Summer Camp and we still have a lot of things ahead to see and share. There are more enriching activities and experiences coming for sure :) Come and join us! >>>

FairCoop give away 40 FairCoin for you to participate in FairCoin Week!

40fairOKWith the aim of promoting FairCoin Week, FairCoop has allocated a budget of 40,000 FAIR to invite anyone to have a fairtrade drink or meal and pay with FairCoin.
That’s it! 🙂 We will distribute 40 FairCoins to anyone who wants to participate in this action from anywhere in the world. We want to reach a thousand participants using FairCoin.
To participate in this collective action, you‘ll need to find somewhere in the town or city where you are going to be between 24 and 31 July, that accepts FairCoin.
It is important that you help to spread awareness of FairCoin Week by raising awareness of the proposal to a bar or shop that you trust, and encourage them to to accept this fair cryptocurrency.
You may feel now all this is almost symbolic, but it could soon become a globally accepted monetary system that allows us to share in economic solidarity and social justice. Now you can contribute to this next step!
Find all the information you need to participate at
** So, about the 40 FairCoins… How does that work?**
1) First, download a FairCoin wallet
– If it’s to buy something in a physical shop we suggest you use the Android Wallet https://fair.to/androidwallet which you can use with your Android smartphone or tablet.
If you want to use your FairCoins in the long term, we suggest you also download one of the pc/mac wallets:
* The official wallet, with it your computer contribute to the FairCoin network security https://fair-coin.org/#wallet
* The electrum wallet, faster and easy to use (https://electrum.fair-coin.org )
2)  To request your 40 free FairCoins, complete this form where you provide your personal details and the FairCoin address you’ve taken from your wallet.
3) If you want to learn more about how the FairCoin wallet works, here are some links and tutorials:
4) To find shops and businesses near you that accept FairCoin, use our directory: https://use.fair-coin.org/.  Although as stated earlier, ideally you‘ll invite your  favourite shop or bar to participate in this initiative, enabling you to spend your  40 FAIR with them.
You can also buy more FairCoin at https://getfaircoin.net/

FairCoop Launches “Faircoin week” | Jul 24-31

faircoinweek-24-31-julyWith the goal of moving towards the creation of an alternative economic and financial system to the current predatory capitalist one, FairCoop launches the first “Faircoin Week” from 24 to July 31, 2015.
 
During this week shops, cafes, restaurants, fair trade shops, self-employed people, and  cooperatives, etc. around the world will be invited to accept Faircoins  in their transactions and verify firsthand how this fairtrade cryptocurrency can be a very useful tool in their economic exchanges.
 
The initiative also aims to encourage consumers to use Faircoin, show its real use in businesses, and contribute to their integration within the society we are helping to transform.
 
We call out to all those individuals and collectives committed to the values that FairCoop promotes to participate in this week of action! 🙂
 
Taking advantage of the Faircoin Week, we will launch the web portal https://use.fair-coin.org as a reference to facilitate and promote the use of Faircoin as a payment tool.
On this site we will provide useful content on how to participate in the initiative,  and other useful information for those users who want to know where to  go to try Faircoin, what businesses are already using the system, and how and where to spend their digital currencies.
 
>>As active participants and as local nodes of FairCoop, you can contribute to this Faircoin Week by promoting it among your local contacts; and particularly by finding shops aligned with the Faircoop principles which can participate in the event and adopt this cryptocurrency. We invite you to get involved in this action and start to visualize the network we are forming together!
 
>> As a shop you can join the Faircoin Week and start to make the new economic system a reality! You help us to promote Faircoin and through use.fair-coin.org we help you to spread your project.
 
>> As a user, stay tuned to the updates on this website, and if you want you can prepare for the Faircoin Week by:
 
– Downloading the wallet https://www.fair-coin.org/#wallet
– And buying some Faircoins in https://getfaircoin.net to use them during the Faircoin week.

Breaking the ECB’s ‘Corralito’ in Greece!

stop-corralitoAs the European Central Bank controls the bank accounts of the Greeks, FairCoop wants to help the population break the “corralito” (currency controls) by enabling them to exchange a part of their digital balances in “Greek Euros” to Faircoins. Thus, Greek citizens can diversify their holdings by changing some of their savings to a currency that the ECB cannot control and which is in tune with an ethics of social cooperation that is completely opposed to the neoliberal economic model that the Troika wants to impose.
In collaboration with the Festival for Solidarity & Cooperative Economy, FairCoop has enabled a Greek current account through which citizens can buy Faircoins.
If you want to participate, here you have the steps to follow:
OPTION A (FairSaving) /fairsaving-2/
2. Select the option ‘Get Faircoin with WIRE TRANSFER‘.
3. Select the quantity of EUR to spend for buy Faircoin
4. Click on the GET FAIRCOIN NOW button.
5. Fill in the form (email, name, surname and check the option: ‘FAIRSAVING SERVICE‘), then confirm the purchase.
6. It will take you to a page with the information necessary to make the transfer to a Greek bank account and thus proceed with the purchase of your FAIR.
7. At the same time, you will also receive a message to the email account you provided with the data for the transfer.
8. Once the transfer is successfully processed, you will receive an email giving you the new Faircoin address associated with your Fairsaving account and the amount of your saved FAIR.
OPTION B (Download your own Wallet)
1. Download the official wallet https://fair-coin.org/#wallet for your operating system.
2. Find your Faircoin address in the tab “receive coins” and meanwhile wait 30 minutes to allow the wallet to synchronise with the network.
4. Select the option ‘Get Faircoin with WIRE TRANSFER‘.
5. Select the quantity of EUR you wish to spend on Faircoin
6. Click on the ‘GET FAIRCOIN NOW’ button.
7. Fill in the form (email, name, surname and Faircoin address), then confirm the purchase.
8. It will take you to a page with the information necessary to make the transfer to Greek bank account and thus proceed with the purchase of your FAIR.
9. At the same time, you will also receive a message to the email account you provided with the data for the transfer.
10.  Once the transfer is successfully processed, you will receive the Faircoin and an email  confirming the action.
Also to stay in touch with FairCoop in Greece, you can join our group on the Fairnetwork:
And if you can come to Crete this summer you might be interested in joining the FairCoop Summer Camp:  /faircoop-summer-camp-2015/

Fairtoearth new video · Cash out Faircoin in an ATM whenever you need to!

FairtoEarth from Nomad on Vimeo.

https://www.fairtoearth.com/

*For now only available in ATMs in Spain, Poland and Mexico.

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