Everyone is buzzing about cash-free revolutions. Whether it’s cryptocurrency, bartering, or the sharing economy of Burning Man, the way we do business with each other is beginning to shift away from cash-only transactions.

In fact, there are entire zones of the country where alternatives like these have become commonplace. Portland, for example, has an entire underground ecosystem of local bartering, that relies on consumers and business owners identifying alternative forms of payment like volunteer hours, services, or additional goods. Similarly, Burning Man is known to have a unique gift based economy where people simply gift each other with what they need.

The emergence of alternative currencies, like Bitcoin, has shown that people need different methods to transact with one another outside of the traditional financial system. The trouble with digital currencies, however, is that they still require an initial cash investment. They also remain difficult to use for most businesses.