An alternative money system

Your community.
Your money.
More possibility.

Your community already has so much to offer. Circles helps you build your own economy around it, with money that starts with people.

Bring Circles to your communityDiscover how
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Humans already registered
25,000+
Communities on the waitlist
30+

Backed by Gnosis

How Circles works

Wealth the conventional system doesn’t see.

A neighbour who can repair a bike. An artist with time to teach. A community with tools, spaces and ideas to share. Circles gives people another way to exchange that value, using money built around their community and the trust between them.

For some, it means accessing more when cash is scarce. For others, it means supporting one another, strengthening local relationships or building an economy on their own terms.

Scroll to followFollow an example exchange between three members of one group.

  1. Start with trust. Bring a community with real relationships. Here, A repairs a bike for B, and B pays in community money because A trusts B and agreed to accept it.
  2. Create your community money. Each member can create community money, and it gets used again: A pays C for hair braiding, because C accepts it too.
  3. Exchange goods and services. Offer and discover what members need, agree an exchange and pay in community money. Two exchanges, and no cash changed hands.

Communities we work with

A group of women and men talking around a garden table with an open notebook and cups of tea

Chamas & savings circles

More from the trust you’ve already built.

Help members exchange skills and services alongside the saving and mutual support that bring you together.

Talk to us about your chama
A woman with a bag of fresh greens talking to a smiling carpenter holding a wooden stool

Local economies

Keep possibility closer to home.

Explore community exchange that connects local skills, spare capacity and everyday needs.

Talk to us about your network
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Creative communities

Make more, together.

Imagine exchanging studio time, creative skills and resources through a community that values your contribution.

Talk to us about your collective

Have another use case in mind? Tell us about it

Our purpose

A world where more people can stand on their own feet, and stand together.

Our mission is to give 100 million people greater sovereignty, especially those underserved by existing systems and institutions.

We’re starting with communities. Over time, we aim to connect thousands of community economies, each rooted in its own identity, into a global alternative money system.

Alternative money

More ways to live. More ways to exchange. More power to choose.

Money shapes what we can do, who we can rely on and the choices available to us. But one system cannot meet every community’s needs.

Circles makes room for communities to build something of their own: alternative economies rooted in their relationships, their contributions and what matters to them.

Where Circles makes a difference

  • Resilience

    When local money is scarce or unreliable.

    Local relationships and exchange that can provide more options when outside systems are fragile or cash is scarce.

  • Self-determination

    When people want to build differently.

    Tools for communities to organise economic life around their own identity, shared purpose and priorities.

  • Access

    When existing systems leave people out.

    For communities whose needs are not met by conventional money, services or institutions.

Frequently asked questions

Have another question? Talk to us

What is Circles, in plain language?

Circles builds tools that let communities create and use their own money, so members can exchange skills, goods and services with each other. We’re starting with chamas in Kenya. A personal Circles app is also in development.

Does community money replace national money?

No. It provides another way to exchange within a participating community. Its usefulness depends on what people voluntarily offer and accept for it. It does not automatically have a cash redemption value or guarantee purchasing power.

Who is it for?

We’re particularly interested in communities with strong trust, regular gatherings and existing exchange: chamas, local networks and creative collectives. Some need alternatives because cash is scarce; others want more local resilience and choice.

Let’s talk.

Curious about Circles, or have an idea for your community?
Book a call or write to us.

Book a call

or email hello@getcircles.one