- Game position (Accept / Modify / Replace)
- The mechanism's stance toward the dominant monetary game. Accept: works within existing market rules. Modify: adjusts specific mechanics while preserving the broader structure. Replace: proposes to supersede the existing monetary game entirely.
- Smithian
- Ethical frame assuming humans are rational self-interest maximizers; markets are the optimal coordination mechanism. Named after Adam Smith. The dominant frame in mainstream economics.
- Hobbesian
- Ethical frame assuming humans are naturally rivalrous and require strong central authority to prevent conflict. Named after Thomas Hobbes. Underlies programmable sovereign digital currencies, where behavioral discipline is built directly into the monetary layer.
- Rousseauian
- Ethical frame assuming humans are naturally cooperative and generous; institutions corrupt this nature. Named after Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Underlies mutual credit and contribution-accounting designs.
- Pluralist
- Ethical frame assuming human motivations are mixed and context-dependent. Monetary systems can reflect multiple values simultaneously. Most alternative monetary designs occupy a Pluralist position.
- Accumulation regime
- Whether the mechanism structurally enables, penalizes, or prohibits the accumulation of monetary wealth over time. One of the most consequential design dimensions.
- Demurrage
- A holding fee on currency — the longer you hold it, the more it costs. Acts like a negative interest rate on balances, incentivizing circulation over hoarding. Best-known example: Silvio Gesell's "Freigeld"; modern prototype: Chiemgauer (Bavaria).
- Mutual credit
- A monetary system where money is created when a member takes credit and extinguished when they pay it back. The sum of all balances in the network is always zero — net accumulation is structurally impossible. Prototype: Sardex (Sardinia).
- Antirival good
- A good that gains value when shared or used by more people — the opposite of a rival good (which loses value with use). Knowledge is a canonical antirival good. Antirival accounting designs monetary units to behave this way.
- Quadratic funding
- A public goods funding mechanism where the matching amount is proportional to the square of the sum of square roots of contributions. In practice: many small donations from many people receive more matching than few large donations from few people. Prototype: Gitcoin Grants.
- Retroactive public goods funding
- Rewarding demonstrated public value after the fact, rather than predicting future value. Allocates funding to projects that have already shown impact. Prototype: Optimism RetroPGF.
- Fluid equity
- In Open Value Accounting (Sensorica / OVN), continuously updated ownership stakes in a venture. Each new contribution dilutes existing stakes proportionally — equity is never fixed but flows with ongoing contribution.
- Bonding curve
- A mathematical function that determines token price as a function of supply. Buying mints new tokens (raising price); selling burns tokens (lowering price). Creates a warm, community-anchored currency without requiring a counterparty.
- Commitment pool
- A monetary mechanism where obligations to deliver goods, services, or resources serve as the primary unit — not tokens or balances. Pools federate through registries. Prototype: Trustlines.
- Structural diversity
- The thesis (from Lietaer, Ulanowicz, Goerner) that monetary monocultures are fragile in the same way ecological monocultures are. Resilience requires a portfolio of complementary monetary mechanisms, not a single optimized design.
- Bioregional currency
- A currency backed by or indexed to the ecological health metrics of a specific geographic bioregion. Capital flows to projects that improve measurable ecological indicators in that region. Prototype: BioFi.