Gov/en/Portal:R&D/Innovations:Rings Of Trust

💡 In simple words: Rings of Trust are circles of people who trust each other. The closer someone is to you in the ring, the more you trust them. It helps the platform know who is safe to work with, like rings of friends, friends-of-friends, and strangers.

🎯 In 20 seconds (scientific summary): A Ring of Trust is a voluntary agreement between two or more User Groups to accept each other's Karma tokens, with usage coefficients from 1 (restricted) to 10 (wide). No self-generation of tokens is allowed, apart from a small welcome grant. Rings would also form the middle governance level, analogous to Swiss cantons.

Definition	Agreement between ≥2 User Groups
Currency	Karma tokens
Coefficients	1 (restricted) to 10 (wide)
Self-generation	❌ Not allowed
Welcome amount	✅ Small grant to new users
Examples	Babysitting-Tutoring, Festival
See also	Karma tokens
See also	12 Programmes

People naturally exchange more easily with communities they know. A parent who earns credit by babysitting would love to spend it on tutoring for her own child, but only if the two communities recognize each other. Rings of Trust are designed to make that recognition explicit and voluntary: User Groups choose to cooperate, define their own terms within the WikiDeal framework, and nothing is imposed from above. As Rings multiply, a complementary economy grows organically around real needs.

On this page:

• What is a Ring?
• Usage coefficients: 1 to 10
• Karma token interoperability
• No self-generation of Karma tokens
• Who does what
• Examples of Rings
• Rings and Programmes
• Rings of Trust in WikiDeal governance
• State of the art

What is a Ring?

A Ring of Trust is intended to be:

• An agreement between two or more User Groups (the minimum is 2)
• A commitment to accept Karma tokens for services within the Ring's scope
• Governed by a usage coefficient that determines how widely the Ring's Karma tokens are accepted
• Registered in the WikiDeal system for transparency and auditability

Usage coefficients: 1 to 10

Each Ring would operate with a usage coefficient that reflects how widely its Karma tokens are accepted:

• Coefficient 1 (restricted): Karma tokens can only be used within the two founding User Groups
• Coefficient 5 (moderate): Karma tokens accepted across a cluster of related User Groups
• Coefficient 10 (widely accepted): Karma tokens can be used across many Rings and User Groups in the ecosystem

A higher coefficient is not automatically better: it means the Karma tokens are more versatile but may be worth less per unit due to wider supply. User Groups choose their coefficient based on their community's needs, a concrete expression of the flexibility WikiDeal aims for.

Karma token interoperability

The key innovation of Rings is interoperability. Karma tokens earned in one User Group could be spent in another User Group, but only if both are in the same Ring. This creates:

• A network effect: more Rings → more useful Karma tokens
• Community incentives: User Groups benefit from joining Rings with complementary services
• No forced participation: User Groups choose which Rings to join

No self-generation of Karma tokens

User Groups and individuals would not be able to create Karma tokens from nothing. The only exception is a small welcome amount granted to new members entering the ecosystem: enough to make a first Transaction and understand the system, not enough to distort it. This rule is meant to prevent inflation and keep Karma tokens tied to real contribution or funding.

Who does what

• User Groups decide which Rings to create or join and set the terms.
• Members earn and spend Karma tokens across the Ring in daily exchanges.
• The WikiDeal system registers each Ring publicly, so anyone can audit who accepts what: transparency built into the structure.

Examples of Rings

🍼🎓 Babysitting-Tutoring Ring

A babysitting User Group and a tutoring User Group agree to accept each other's Karma tokens. A parent can earn Karma tokens by offering babysitting services and spend them on tutoring for their child. A tutor can offer lessons and receive Karma tokens usable for childcare.

🎪 Festival Services Ring

Multiple User Groups involved in festival organization (sound, catering, transport, security) form a Ring. Workers can earn Karma tokens in one role and spend them in another, creating a self-sustaining festival economy that minimizes CHF exchanges and lowers costs for everyone involved.

Rings and Programmes

Rings of Trust are designed to work alongside WikiDeal's 12 Programmes. Many programmes define natural Ring configurations: for example, the Shared Resources Programme facilitates Rings between User Groups sharing physical assets, and the Microcredit Programme enables Rings between lending and borrowing communities.

Rings of Trust in WikiDeal governance

In the envisaged governance structure, Rings of Trust would form the middle governance level, analogous to the Swiss cantons, between the User Groups (the communes) and the global governance (the Confederation). WikiDeal's governance is intended as a hybrid of three proven sources: the open, wiki-style rule-making of Wikipedia and the free software movement, the at-cost financial management and user ownership of cooperatives, and the Swiss practice of collegial executives at every level, elected by an assembly of delegates. The full model is described on the Governance page.

State of the art

Inter-group trust agreements relate to decades of research on social networks, social capital and computational trust. The references below situate Rings of Trust in that literature.

• Mark Granovetter (1973), The Strength of Weak Ties, American Journal of Sociology, 78(6): doi:10.1086/225469 · interpersonal ties on Wikipedia.
• James S. Coleman (1988), Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital, American Journal of Sociology, 94: doi:10.1086/228943 · social capital on Wikipedia.
• Audun Jøsang, Roslan Ismail and Colin Boyd (2007), A survey of trust and reputation systems for online service provision, Decision Support Systems, 43(2): doi:10.1016/j.dss.2005.05.019.
• Philip Zimmermann (1995), The Official PGP User's Guide, MIT Press, origin of the web of trust model: web of trust on Wikipedia · Pretty Good Privacy.
• Francis Fukuyama (1995), Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity, Free Press: author page on Wikipedia.

See also: Karma tokens · 12 Programmes · User Groups · Open Call Guide

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