Your community's
own money.
When shillings run short, keep trading with your neighbours. Every member gets 1 Apwoche an hour (the example currency on this page) to spend on each other's goods and services.
Free for your group and its members. We are starting with a few groups in Kenya, chamas (savings groups) first. Writing to contact@getcircles.one commits you to nothing.
From the team behind the Gnosis App. Chamas are the first groups we are piloting this with.
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 gets 1 Apwoche an hour
That is 24 a day for each member. The organiser and the newest member get 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. Sellers name their own price in Apwoche, and every listing shows roughly what the same thing costs in shillings.
These listings and prices 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
30 Apwoche a cut about KES 150
Achieng Repairs and alterations
Hems, zips, school uniforms
40 Apwoche an hour about KES 200
Kevin Boda ride within town
Call before 7pm
20 Apwoche a ride about KES 100
Faith Braiding
Bring your own extensions
100 Apwoche a session about KES 600
Peter Motorbike service
Parts paid in shillings
70 Apwoche an hour about KES 400
Samuel Fresh tilapia
Morning catch, order the day before
60 Apwoche a fish about KES 350
Wanted Do the job, get paid in Apwoche
Brian Clean my barber shop
Saturday morning
50 Apwoche about 2 hours about KES 300
Samuel Help carry fish crates at the beach
Every day at 6am
80 Apwoche about 3 hours about KES 450
Mercy Fix a torn school bag
This week
30 Apwoche the job about KES 150
Pay in Apwoche, keep your shillings
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Two haircuts from Brian | 60 Apwoche | KES 300 |
| Eight boda rides with Kevin | 160 Apwoche | KES 800 |
| Three fish from Samuel | 180 Apwoche | KES 1,050 |
| Braiding by Faith | 100 Apwoche | KES 600 |
500 of her 720 Apwoche spent.KES 2,750 still in her pocket.
An example, with rough prices.
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 get 1 Apwoche an hour 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.
Apply for the pilotFree for your group and its members.
Apwoche
Organiser
- Members
- 12
- New Apwoche a day
- 288
Waiting to join
Lilian, vegetable seller
Invited by Mercy
Circles already runs in the Gnosis App
More than 25,000 people have joined Circles. The Gnosis App, which we build, is where they mint Circles, join communities, trust friends and spend in the marketplace.
Community money is built on Circles, and chamas are the first groups we are piloting it with. If you already use Circles, carry on in the Gnosis App.
Groups also save and trade together in other ways. See what else we are building.
Questions people ask
What is one Apwoche worth?
Whatever your members agree it is. Each seller sets their own price and can ask for part shillings, part Apwoche. In the example on this page a haircut is 30 Apwoche and a boda ride 20. Nobody sets prices for your community, including us.
Is Apwoche backed by shillings?
No. Apwoche has no shillings behind it and no fixed rate against them, and the app has no way to cash it out. It is worth what your members agree to trade it for. Your shillings stay where you keep them: M-Pesa, the bank or your chama.
What does it cost?
The pilot is free for your group and its members.
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.
What if my neighbours won't accept it?
Apwoche only works among people who agree to take it. That is why the organiser lets in people the group already knows. Start with a few things members can offer each other, like a haircut, a ride or a tray of eggs. The more members list, the more there is to spend it on.
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.
What do I need?
A smartphone with an internet connection. Your account opens with your phone's own lock: fingerprint, face or PIN.
What if I lose my phone?
You can get your account back. In the Gnosis App you choose people you trust to help you recover it, or you recover it with your email. Set that up when you join.
Is our community's information private?
Not fully. Every payment is recorded on Gnosis Chain, a public blockchain. Anyone can see which accounts paid each other, how much and when, who trusts whom and who belongs to which community. An account shows the name and picture its owner gives it, and people who know you can often tell which account is yours. 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.
Do we have to use the name Apwoche?
No. Apwoche is the example currency on this page. When your community starts, the organiser gives its currency a name your members will recognise.
Can we start today?
Not yet. We are starting with a few groups in Kenya. Email contact@getcircles.one with your group's name, how many members it has and your town, and we will write back.
Give your group its own money
Tell us your group's name, how many members it has and your town. The pilot is free and has room for a few groups.
Or write to contact@getcircles.one