Recently, Barcelona launched its own cryptocurrency called REC. REC stands for “Real Economy Currency.”

What is Barcelona’s REC?

According to their website, REC is:

“Barcelona’s social currency, a type of social or local currency. It is a citizen exchange system complementary to the euro, allowing transactions in a community between individuals, institutions and businesses that accept it. It provides an alternative to the globally dominant financial and monetary system.”

The major benefit of REC is that it helps keeps money in Barcelona’s local economy. The REC business map, which lists businesses accepting REC, shows nearly 100 partners. Partners include restaurants, laundry services, veterinarian offices, pharmacies, bars, and many other businesses. To see more in depth information about partner businesses and to begin using REC, you can download the application. It is currently only available for Android devices through Google Play.

To incentive people to use REC, the application offers special deals at local partner establishments. Additionally, there are no transaction fees. For businesses, REC is an attractive partner because of the increase in visibility amongst potential customers interested in supporting local businesses.

Currently, REC is partnered with Barcelona’s City Council as well as NOVACT to run a pilot program. The pilot program targets aiding families on benefits and includes “1,000 families on municipal inclusion benefit, who will get a quarter of their payments in RECs.”

At the moment, the municipal inclusion benefits pilot program is still running. However, if you are interested in joining REC, the project is now open to anyone interested in piloting the program. All you have to do to participate is download the ‘REC Barcelona’ application from Google Play and signup.

A key takeaway from REC and their pilot program is that some European governments, such as Malta’s, are eager to get into crypto.