The Eusko, Europe's leading local currency, exceeds 6.5 million transactions
With 4.4 million euskos in circulation and 6.5 million transactions in 2024, the local currency of the French Basque Country stands as Europe's largest — and a real-world laboratory for short supply chains.
Launched in 2013 in the French Basque Country, the Eusko is today Europe’s leading local currency: 4.4 million euskos currently in circulation, with a volume of 6.5 million transactions in 2024.
What these figures do not reveal is the network’s architecture. More than 820 businesses, associations and 17 territorial authorities accept the Eusko. Every eusko spent with a local artisan stays within the proximity economy — impossible to siphon off to an offshore platform or distant shareholder.
An analysis published in May 2025 by EDHEC Business School highlights an unexpected effect: Eusko users do not simply consume locally. They reportedly become “more cooperative” in their broader economic behaviour — favouring recommendations between network members, service exchanges, neighbourhood solidarity.
The Eusko is not a militant gadget. Its 5,400 users and 17 partner municipalities make it a de facto infrastructure for a territory of several hundred thousand inhabitants. At this scale, the local currency ceases to be symbolic and begins to structure lasting purchasing habits.
More than 4,500 similar experiments have been documented in the economic literature over thirty years. The Eusko is one of the few to have reached a measurable critical mass.
Further reading: National Currency Isn’t the Only Currency That Works: 90 Years of Evidence ✿ Coming soon — subscribe to get notified
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