A Blockchain-Enabled Decentralized Time Banking for a New Social Value System

Abstract

Blockchain technology is reshaping the the traditional economies. People may have more trust than ever before as the transaction is immutable and transparent. Success in crypto-currency and other technical areas highlights many attractive features of the blockchain technology that can benefit more aspects of modern society. Time Banking is a generalized exchange economy not based on money, but values everyone's contribution on the same scale, the time expended. Time banking is a noble idea with great potential, but the security and trust issues are not well addressed. In this paper a BLockchain-ENabled Decentralized Time Banking System (BlendTBS)is proposed to build a trustful, dynamic and respectful community. People in this community are encouraged to be engaged in mutual serving relationships. For this purpose, the BlendTBS is designed to reward the residents who commit in socially beneficial activities. An initial prototype is implemented on a permissioned blockchain network and a small scale study is planned to examine the utility of BlendTBS to a traditional community on the island of Aneityum, Republic of Vanuatu. Within a selected community in the village of Analgahuat, deeper insights will be explored by observing the trust enabled by Blockchain technology that allows peer to peer service exchanges between any two individuals. Authors hope this position paper may inspire more interests in the roles that blockchain technology can play in modern society.