Cryptocurrency in Space

So, there is this huge Galactic Counsel that oversees more worlds than I care to count (worlds might be just one planet or a group of planets settled by the same people). This is complicated for many reasons, like source of food (in and out), climate (temps, atmosphere) as well as finance. The answer to all of these ends up being standards.

Most of these do not affect the spacecraft (size does which we covered previously as well as finance which will be below - which is why we are skipping most of them). For completeness though, for food, there is the food cube, for climate there is a dedicated receiving station. Though obviously these standards do not work for every species, they work for most, and each species knows what they need to do in order to utilize them. Other items are solved similarly.

As far as finance, there is a standard unit of finance interestingly enough called the “Unit”. The unit works almost like a cryptocurrency. There is no physical unit, but it is a virtual currency. This currency is set to exchange rates for all the currencies within the Galactic Counsels oversight. You can still use the local currency (that would be like paying in cash) but the unit is what is most often used (like a debit card). This allows easy and simple trade within all worlds overseen by the Galactic Counsel.

Just like here, you can earn units by performing work for others (they pay you) or selling items. Then you use those units to purchase other goods or services. There is also some concept of credit in space, but not like our credit cards. You need to get credit approved ahead of time (there is no immediate access to credit – appears that is just an earth thing).

In order to use (or accept) credits, you do need some identifier. The Galactic Counsel did not want everyone to have to carry something around (like a phone). To accomplish this each world had to define some biometric type identifier. This is then programmed into the transaction scanner. On earth, we might use fingerprint. So, you could pay (or get paid) by touching your finger to the sensor.

The spacecraft did not have any identifiers of their own. So, the Aliens set them up with some and embedded them within the spacecraft. So now the spacecraft can spend and receive money just like everyone else. Next update will go over how they earn units and what they spend them on.