Recently, I came across an article about what seems to be a significant 
development in the commercial trade exchange industry. Published on February 15, 2018, the article, TradeAuthority rebrands as Moxey with new digital currency, national expansion plans, tells about the expansion and rebranding of a commercial trade exchange heretofore known as TradeAuthority. Operating for the past several years in the Gulf Coast region of the southern United States, TradeAuthority has developed along lines somewhat different from most other trade exchange companies. I’ve had some peripheral knowledge of TradeAuthority for a long time but after reading the article I decided it was time for me to reach out to its founder, Chip Davis, with the intention of gaining a more detailed picture of how they operate and their plans for further development and expansion. The company, now named Moxey, is a network of 14 autonomous member-owned local trade exchanges, member ownership being a unique feature in the commercial trade exchange industry.
The key players in the Moxey enterprise are Chip Davis, founder of TradeAuthority and current Executive Vice President of Moxey, Charlie Davis, President of Moxey, and Warren Sager, Moxey Vice President of Operations.
Some Key Questions
In my message to Chip Davis, I posed the following questions:
- What degree of autonomy do the various (14) exchanges in your network have?
- Is it possible for a member in one exchange to buy/sell directly with a member of another exchange in the network? Does your platform provide that functionality or does the trade need to be pre-arranged with brokers in the two exchanges?
- Is there a single Moxey ledger for the entire network or does each exchange have its own? If the latter, how are accounts reconciled among the exchanges, and how often?
- Do you participate in UC? [UC is “Universal Currency,” a credit currency that many trade exchanges use to enable their members to buy goods and services from members of different trade exchanges.]
- What are the factors you use to allocate lines of credit? How are they weighted? Are all exchanges in the network required to apply the same algorithm in allocating credit lines to their members?
- You say, “Moxey intends to be a better Medium of Exchange by removing the concern of inflation.” How does it do that?
- Is you online portal a complete marketplace that includes offers and requests? Vendor and client background? Reputation ratings?
- When using the app or online portal, is approval of the transaction immediate?
- You also say, “It also removes the extreme deflationary dangers that can exist in a purer form of money such as gold.” Can you explain that?
- What additional functionality will be achieved by using blockchain? “The major thing behind all currencies is a trust and transparency in knowing the currency is strong and blockchain technology will allow an additional level of transparency,” says Warren Sager, Moxey vice president of operations. “It will allow our currency to become stronger and more trustworthy.” But that does not address the transparency of the credit allocation process. Please comment.
- The trade exchange industry seems to have been for some time on a plateau or slow growth trajectory. How do you see moneyless trading alternatives evolving over the next few years, and how much of an increase in scale do you anticipate?
You can read Chip’s and Charlie’s answers, and our full conversation by clicking here. –t.h.g.
Beyond Money 
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Indeed! It certainly seems larger elsewhere outside the US (the drama in the bx industry with IRTA etc. is fascinating!). Do you see that kind of model scaling to significance? Certainly useful but b2b seems limiting, especially in terms of awareness/mindshare issues…
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The future of exchange is credit clearing, the process used by trade exchanges. It surely will scale up to handle the majority of transactions. As I outlined in my book, The End of Money…, (Chapter 15 onward) commercial trade exchanges can lead the way IF they make some critical modifications to the ways they operate. Otherwise, new upstarts with different attitudes and mindsets will do it and leave them in the dust. B2B is the foundation because businesses provide the bulk of the supply of valuable goods and services, But a large proportion of consumers are also workers/employees. Ultimately everyone can be a member of a trade exchange, but the lines of credit must be allocated mainly to the members that provide the greatest value to the network.
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Incredibly helpful. Thank you.
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Tom, I skimmed through your exchange with the Davis duo. Most impressed by the mutual respect. I leave the details to you. Larry
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Tom, this is very informative and timely conversation. I just attended a blockchain conference here in LA this past weekend and these new tech companies and venture capital investors do not understand how to manage the quantity nor quality of the cryptocurrencies and tokens they are creating. At the same time, your last quote by Hayek is being realized in the blockchain space which we can see with the proliferation of tokens and the various incentives being created to get the public to adopt them.
With regard to Moxey Money, what they are doing is quite impressive. I agree with Charlie that blockchain tech is the future. It is not just a new innovation for monetary transactions, but it could include a verifiable record of all the world’s assets as they pass through the supply chain. Following raw material to their finished products is potentially within our grasp in the next decade and represents a very valuable opportunity for businesses and consumers.
Now is the time to start experimenting and getting the blockchain currency economic model right for future generations. There are hundreds of millions of investor dollars interested in blockchain right now, and we might as well get in on the gold rush. Trade platforms like Moxey already have a good business model with users and revenue, something most of these other startups lack.
If Moxie are interested in opening up operations in Southern California, I would be happy to take part!
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Thomas, thanks for this — did not know about it. Do you have any pre-existing thoughts on the BizX barter exchange based in the PacNW?
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I’m aware of BizX but know nothing about their internal operations.
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thanks! sounds pretty similar to Moxey.
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Well, there are scores of commercial trade exchanges operating in countries around the world, each with its own distinctive structure, policies, and practices. Some are more sound than others. IRTA is the trade association that has been trying to promote high standards of operation and to advocate for the industry but they cannot do much to enforce standards because they are dependent on membership dues.
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