Stop using one currency for two different worlds. Because AI labor creates abundance (digital) while physical resources remain scarce (atoms), we need two tools: **1. Foundation Coins (FC) — For the Physical World (Scarce)** - **Purpose:** To manage scarce resources (energy, land, food). - **How it works:** This currency is capped and stable (like Gold). - **Creation:** Minted only via **"Proof of Benefit."** You don't get money by lending (debt); you get it by proving you did something useful (e.g., cleaning a watershed, training a useful open AI model, curing a disease). - **Role:** Acts as a store of value. **2. Culture Credits (CC) — For the Digital World (Abundant)** - **Purpose:** To fuel creativity, service, and connection. - **How it works:** This currency is abundant and designed to flow. - **Creation:** Distributed to every citizen as an **Abundance Dividend** (a form of UBI). - **Mechanism:** It has **Demurrage** (a decay rate). If you hoard it, it disappears. This forces money to circulate constantly, stimulating the creative economy. --- ## Re-explained #### The "Bakery vs. The Internet" Problem Imagine you live in a town that has two main places: a **Bakery** and a **Digital Library**. 1. **The Bakery (The Atomic World):** There are only 100 donuts. If I eat a donut, you cannot eat it. Donuts are **scarce**. They require flour, sugar, and human time to make. 2. **The Digital Library (The Bit World):** There is a funny cat video. If I watch it, you can still watch it. In fact, a billion people can watch it. The video is **abundant**. It costs almost nothing to copy. **The Problem:** Right now, we use the **same money** (Dollars/Euros) for both. * If we print too much money to make the Library free, the price of donuts goes up (Inflation), and people starve. * If we restrict money to keep donuts stable, we put a "paywall" around the Library. We make the cat video artificiality expensive, even though it should be free. **The Necessity:** The book argues that **AI is making the "Digital Library" infinite.** It can write code, make art, and solve problems for free. But humans still live in the "Bakery"—we need food and houses. We cannot use the same money for a world of **Infinite AI** and a world of **Finite Planet**. It breaks the system. *** #### The Solution: Two Wallets for Two Worlds The author proposes we split money into two different types, each with its own rules of physics. ##### 1. Foundation Coins (The "Hard" Money) * **What is it for?** The Bakery (The Atomic World). Buying land, energy, raw materials, and physical goods. * **How does it work?** It acts like Gold. It is **scarce**. * **How do you get it?** You cannot just print it (that causes inflation). You must earn it through **"Proof of Benefit."** * *Example:* An AI or a human cleans up a polluted river. The network verifies the river is clean. *Ding!* A Foundation Coin is minted. * *Why this helps:* It anchors money to **physical reality**. We stop destroying the planet to make numbers go up. We only make new money when we actually *improve* the physical world. ##### 2. Culture Credits (The "Fast" Money) * **What is it for?** The Digital Library (The Bit World). Buying art, digital services, tipping a creator, hiring a neighbor to teach you guitar. * **How does it work?** It acts like water. It is **abundant**. * **How do you get it?** Everyone gets a monthly supply for free (Basic Income). * **The "Magic" Trick (Demurrage):** This money **rots**. If you don't spend it within a month, it slowly disappears. * *Why this helps:* Since you can't save it, you *spend* it. You hire the artist, you tip the writer, you buy the digital service. It creates massive "velocity"—money flying around the system, ensuring everyone has enough to participate in culture, without causing inflation in the price of bread (because you can't use this money to hoard land or wheat). *** #### The Big Picture Summary **The Old Way:** We treat a song (infinite) and a sandwich (scarce) as the same thing. This makes sandwiches too expensive and songs too hard to get. **The New Way (Dual Currency):** 1. **Foundation Coins** protect the planet (Atoms). They are hard to get, so we are careful with resources. 2. **Culture Credits** unleash creativity (Bits). They are easy to get but impossible to hoard, so we are generous with ideas and art. By separating them, we stop trying to force the **Infinite Economy of AI** into the **Finite Economy of Earth**.