An exchange protocol for alternative currencies

Alternative currencies are currencies issued by individuals or entities other than national governments for the purpose of improving the economic well being of individuals by cultivating new trading relationships. We present a currency exchange protocol for use in alternative currency markets, such as those based on the lightweight currency protocol, local exchange transaction systems, and time dollar systems. In order to further enable the benefits derived from the use of alternative currencies, we propose the establishment of an exchange protocol that enables users to swap currencies. In this paper, we define the protocol we developed for this purpose, and describe the systems we prototyped to demonstrate the practicability of the currency exchange protocol.