Your community's
own money.
When shillings run short, keep trading with your neighbours. Everyone mints 1 Apwoche every hour and spends it on each other's goods and services.
We are starting with a few groups, chamas first. Writing to contact@getcircles.one commits you to nothing.
Already use Circles? Open the Gnosis App
Month end empties the purse. The skills are still next door.
The tailor still has her machine. The boda rider still rides home with an empty seat. Your neighbour has a free afternoon and nobody who can pay her for it.
People have the time and the goods, but no shillings to pay each other. With their community's own money they trade anyway, and the shillings they do have go to what only shillings can buy, like rent and school fees.
How it works
An organiser starts your community
They name its currency, Apwoche on this page, and let members in one by one, so every account belongs to someone the group knows.
Everyone mints 1 Apwoche an hour
That is 24 a day for each member. The organiser and the newest member mint the same.
Members spend it and earn it
Pay a neighbour for a haircut or a boda ride, or take a job someone needs done. Sellers set their own prices, and can ask for part shillings, part Apwoche.
On the community market
Members offer what they can do and ask for what they need. One Apwoche is about an hour of someone's time, and every listing shows what the same thing usually costs in shillings.
These listings are made-up examples, to show how it could look.
Offered Pay a neighbour in Apwoche
Brian Haircut and shave
At my shop in town, after 2pm
1 Apwoche a cut usually KES 150
Achieng Repairs and alterations
Hems, zips, school uniforms
1 Apwoche an hour usually KES 200
Kevin Boda ride within town
Call before 7pm
0.5 Apwoche a ride usually KES 100
Faith Braiding
Bring your own extensions
3 Apwoche a session usually KES 600
Peter Motorbike service
Parts paid in shillings
2 Apwoche an hour usually KES 400
Samuel Fresh tilapia
Morning catch, order the day before
2 Apwoche a fish usually KES 350
Wanted Do the job, get paid in Apwoche
Brian Clean my barber shop
Saturday morning
2 Apwoche about 2 hours usually KES 300
Samuel Help carry fish crates at the beach
Every day at 6am
3 Apwoche about 3 hours usually KES 450
Mercy Fix a torn school bag
This week
1 Apwoche the job usually KES 150
Every trade in Apwoche is shillings kept
Pay a neighbour in Apwoche and the shillings you would have spent stay in your pocket, for rent, school fees and everything only shillings can buy. The app keeps count for every member.
| Bought | Paid | Shillings kept |
|---|---|---|
| A haircut from Brian | 1 Apwoche | KES 150 |
| Two boda rides with Kevin | 1 Apwoche | KES 200 |
| Two fish from Samuel | 4 Apwoche | KES 700 |
6 Apwoche spent.KES 1,050 still in her pocket.
Every community has an organiser
Someone already brings your group together: a chama's chairlady, a church elder, the leader of the market's traders. They start the community on Circles.
Names the currency
Something members will recognise. On this page it is Apwoche.
Decides who joins
Members invite people they know with the community's invite code. The organiser lets each one in, and from then on they mint like everyone else.
Sees the community at work
How much currency is going round, how many trades happened this week and how many shillings members kept between them.
Apwoche
Organiser
- Members
- 12
- New Apwoche a day
- 288
Waiting to join
Lilian, vegetable seller
Invited by Mercy
Circles is already running
More than 25,000 people have registered on Circles. The Gnosis App is where they mint Circles, join communities, trust friends and spend in the marketplace.
Community money is built on Circles. If you already use Circles, carry on in the Gnosis App.
Questions people ask
What is one Apwoche worth?
About an hour of someone's time. There is no fixed rate in shillings: each seller sets their own price, and can ask for part shillings, part Apwoche. Nobody sets prices for your community, including us.
Why is it called Apwoche?
Apwoche is the example on this page. When your community starts, the organiser gives its currency a name your members will recognise.
Can I keep it for later?
You can, but it slowly shrinks: balances lose about 7% a year. Keep 1,000 Apwoche for a year and you will have about 930. It is money for trading with each other, so spend it.
Who can join?
People the organiser lets in. Members invite people they know with the community's invite code, and your community sets its own rules for who belongs.
Who can start a community?
Any group whose members know each other: a chama, a church group, the traders of one market. The pilot starts with a few chamas.
What do I need?
A smartphone with an internet connection. Your account opens with your phone's own lock: fingerprint, face or PIN.
Is our community's information private?
Partly. Every payment is recorded on Gnosis Chain, a public blockchain, so anyone can see that a payment happened between two accounts. Nobody can quietly change the records, including us.
Does it replace our M-Pesa or bank savings?
No. Your group keeps its shilling savings, M-Pesa and table banking. Apwoche is for trading with each other, so the shillings you have go further.
Can we start today?
Not yet. The pilot starts with a few groups. Email contact@getcircles.one with your group's name, how many members it has and your town, and we will write back.
Start your community's own money
Tell us about your group and what members could offer each other. The pilot has room for a few groups, chamas first.
Bring our community to the pilot
Or write to contact@getcircles.one