The local currency for Zurich
What exactly is Leu ?
"We at Encointer have launched the Leu as a new, digital local currency for the city of Zurich. You can pay with Leu for local products, second-hand goods and services at selected locations, send Leu to your friends and have them send it to you."
Alain Brenzikofer
@brenzi5
The basics
There are basically many things that the leu now covers, but there are only two things that you really need to know.
How to get Leu
You can buy leu from someone or work for it just like other money. But there is another way: the leu is designed as a community income that you receive regularly if you are part of the leu community.
Points of acceptance
Acceptance points are places where you can spend the leu. There are now more than 20 points of acceptance in Zurich where you can use all or part of the leu as a means of payment - and currently 1-3 new ones are being added every month.
44 Leu every ten days
Unconditional communal income
With the Leu, we are pursuing the goal of strengthening the local economy in Zurich and launching an equal-opportunity money system. It is equal opportunity because all community members regularly receive the same amount of Leu, regardless of how much Swiss francs they have. So your socio-economic status doesn't matter with the Leu, because everyone is equal and deserves to have the same opportunities.
This community income is drawn at so-called gatherings or cycles. There, the community meets at a place that is allocated by app to receive 44 leu (equivalent to 44 CHF) every 10 days.
How to get started with the app
Next, choose your user name. You can change it later in the app settings at any time.
Select a PIN that you need for transactions and adding new accounts.
Remember that you cannot recover the PIN until you have made a backup copy. So remember it or write it down and keep it safe.
Choose a community currency on the map. You can change it later. In your case, this currency will be Leu.
That's it, the setup is complete! Now your home screen opens, showing your account balance and the date of the next meeting.
Your default balance is zero. To register for the first ceremony, you need to request some money from a person of the community.
To make a request, click on the profile icon at the bottom right of the app screen. Once you are in your profile, select your account icon at the top of the screen.
Community functions
Our app, as well as our community, has some basic features that are important to understand if you want to be part of the assemblies.
Leu Lunches
From 5 September, we will be launching the Leu-Feierabend format, to which we would like to invite you from 6pm at the L200. The event is open to all, regardless of whether you have been a Leu community member for a long time, are new to it or are not yet part of the community.
Beer and/or other drinks can be bought with Leu. Furthermore, we want you to take something away from the evenings and the exchange of knowledge in the community to grow a bit. We are therefore planning to have a short talk by a community member each time.
Reputation & Endorsement
Leu contains one or two technical keywords. On the one hand, Leu users have a reputation that indicates how well the system already knows the account. On the other hand, in connection with the reputation, there is the possibility to endorse fellow human beings, so that people who are new to the project are recognised by the system and can participate in a secure way. It is like a small Leu dictionary of its own, more detailed information can be found on the page dedicated to this topic.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
If you are looking for a well-organised and clear explanation of the most important questions about Leu, you will certainly find an answer in our FAQ. However, if you still have questions, please use the contact form here.
GENERAL
Do I really get leu for free? What's the catch?
There is no catch! If you follow the instructions above, you will get Leu. Just like that.
What is a leu worth?
ⵐ LEU 1.- corresponds to CHF 1.- at the beginning. Depending on supply and demand, the exchange rate to the Swiss franc may change over time.
Can I save up leu?
All members of the community regularly generate new money at every cycle. This alone would lead to inflation because more money is constantly being "printed". To counteract this, the leu you have continuously devalues. In concrete terms, the leu loses 5.6% of its value every month. Saving is therefore not worthwhile. But this devaluation has another purpose than to prevent inflation: We want the leu to circulate, which means that you spend it on products and services and also receive it yourself from other members of the community. Because the Leu is from Zurich for Zurich and should also serve to support local Zurich businesses. And that works best when no one is hoarding Leu.
Is the leu legal?
Yes, we do not want to topple the Swiss franc, but to launch a complementary currency with the leu. And there were and are many local currencies. For example, the Brixton Pound in England, the Chiemgauer in Germany or the Mumbuca in Brazil.
Who controls how many leu are in circulation?
Ultimately, the community, as leu are created in proportion to the number of participants in a cycle. Compliance with these rules is ensured by a publicly visible blockchain.
Cycles and gatherings
Why was I not assigned to a cycle?
In order to be assigned to a Cycle, you must register by the closing date indicated in the application, i.e. two days before the Cycle at midnight. If you have registered as a "newbie" but have not yet been assigned, this means that the Cycle is overbooked. Leu-Cycles can only grow by 1/3 from Cycle to Cycle. This is important because we assume that the majority of Cycle participants are honest and know how the process works. Therefore we assume that 2/3 of the participants already have a good reputation. Please try again next time and register as early as possible to increase your chances, or ask a member of the Leu community to give you a reputation advance. If you have registered as a bootstrapper, a person with a previous reputation or a person invited by a bootstrapper and you are not allocated a place, this may be because not enough meeting places have been defined for the leu community.
When I try to register for a Cycle, the app tells me: "You don't have enough money in this account". Why?
To register for a cycle, you need a small amount of leu. To do this, ask someone who is already a member to transfer you some leu. Alternatively, you can buy 1 leu for 1 Swiss franc at Sphères.
What happens if I am late for a meeting?
Once those present at a meeting have started to tell our system how many people are there, no new people can join. Therefore, if you arrive late at that meeting, you will unfortunately not receive a leu, but will have to wait for the next one. This is to prevent a person from attending two meetings during the same cycle and thus receiving leu twice.
We have started the meeting and voted on the number of people present, but one person can no longer attend. What should we do?
It would be best to restart the assembly and reduce the number of votes accordingly.
I cannot submit my applications, what should I do?
Wenn deine Internetverbindung unterbrochen oder der Akku deines Telefons leer ist, kannst du trotzdem innerhalb von 24 Stunden nach dem Cycle erneut versuchen, deine Anträge einzureichen.
I attended a meeting but did not receive any income. Why?
It can take up to 48 hours to apply for the income. Currently, one person per assembly must explicitly apply for the income. The app tells you that an application is pending and the first person to apply triggers the issue for the whole assembly. (This will soon be automated). If you still haven't received any income, it must be because your claim is in breach of one of our rules. Probable reasons are: - You have not certified enough legitimate participants. - You have not been certified by enough legitimate participants. - You have entered an incorrect number of participants.
I still need help with things that didn't work. What can i do?
For further questions, please contact us via email info@leu.zuerich or our signal group.
APP
How do i backup my account, so i can recover it?
To backup and possibly restore your account in the Encointer app, you should follow these steps: Click on the profile icon and select "Your account". Then select "export" and write down the displayed 12 words (mnemonic phrase) in the correct order. Keep these words in a safe place offline and don't save them as a screenshot or in the cloud. If you lose your phone or want to use a new device, you can recover your account using these words. To do so, go to the profile page, tap the small + in the top right corner, and enter your PIN when prompted. These security measures ensure that you can access your Encointer account at any time and protect it from loss or theft. In the second phase of the leu, neither account balances nor transaction history are made public.
Is my data protected when I become part of the Leu Community?
In the first phase of the leu, absolute transparency is important to us. All account balances and the development of the amount of money are therefore publicly visible, but only pseudonymously. Your name and address are not recorded anywhere and the Encointer association does not know your identity. You are free to create a new pseudonym every week to improve data protection. In the second phase of the leu, neither the account balances nor the transaction history are published.
You want to trade with Leu too?
We bring the leu to you
Our acceptance points team is always open for you and your questions if you and your company also want to trade with Leu.
