Ithica Hours can't work on a scale larger than a small town of about 2K families.
Why? (I have my own opinion, but Im interested in hearing yours).
1) It doesn't really float, as it is functionally tied to the US dollar via the standard exchange rate, which I believe is still $8 per Hour.
2) It's still an unbacked currency by
ongoing agreement, so it's acceptability is highly dependent upon the trust that users have that the issuing body can support the currency in times of trouble, if only by buying them back at $8 each.
3) It's velocity is a factor of not just who accepts the Hour, but who accepts it from
whom as the Hour is much easier to counterfit than most national currecies, so there is a measure of trust required between parties, which usually requires some level of pre-existing relationship. (i.e. the I know where you live factor)
Any of these conditions would make it unsuitable for use over the Internet, but taken together they limit the use of any such currency to the very local level. Even a mid-sized American city couldn't make it work unless the city government itself were the issuing body and could adaquately resolve the issue of fakes.
