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Description
Since time immemorial, human civilization has relied on currency. Without it, transactions would be reduced to bartering, which is not feasible on any scale beyond that of the village. Several attempts were made throughout galactic history to have a currency-less system, most infamously the efforts made by the Federation, but all of these have failed for one reason or another. The modern galaxy likely has more currencies than inhabited worlds, and it is through control of galactic currencies that the banks of the Consortium of Sovereign Systems can exert a large degree of influence over their much larger rivals, the Third Empire and the United Galactic Federation.

There are two major categories of currency in the modern galaxy: local currencies, and interstellar currencies. Local currencies, as the name suggests, are only accepted on a planetary, sub-planetary, or system level. They are issued by local banks and governments, and unlike interstellar currencies, more often than not take a physical form. Coins and plastic notes are common local currencies, as on many worlds, data infrastructure is unreliable or limited only to large settlements. About half of the galaxy's wealth is stored in local currencies, according to economic estimations, but the true value of local currencies is never known. Local currencies are invariably worth less than interstellar currencies, even if exchange rates fluctuate rapidly. A single one-man spacecraft, while costing only a handful of Imperial credits, may cost millions in a local currency.

Interstellar currencies are currencies designed for the interstellar economy. All interstellar currencies are digital, and can be subdivided infinitely into a fraction of a single unit. Most local institutions, outside of cosmopolitan hubs, do not accept interstellar currencies, and instead demand payment in the local currency. Interstellar currencies are managed by banks, which not only provide loans and security for finances, but also the computational power necessary for a galactic economy to thrive. Banks verify and record every transaction in the galaxy, which given the galaxy's size is no small feat. Banks which offer this computational power are rewarded with the creation of new credits and transaction fees. There are countless of interstellar currencies, mostly formed in the Consortium. Most interstellar currencies are limited to a few star systems, issued by a Consortium bank, and accepted only by a few institutions within the Consortium. Many of these smaller currencies are created and destroyed quickly, meaning that they are not good stores of wealth. However, there are several major currencies that are in widespread use, and are practically guaranteed never to falter. The greatest of these is the Imperial credit, which is used throughout the entire Galactic Empire and many other polities, including many Federation systems.

The Imperial credit was originally controlled by the Imperial Central Bank, but as the expansion of the Empire outstripped the Bank's computing systems, they turned to the Consortium's private banks for help. The Consortium, unlike the Empire, had fewer computational restrictions, and thus could easily provide the service the ICB could not. Several major Consortium banks, whose identity is known only to the Consortium's defense bureau, the ICB's top leadership and the highest-ranking members of the Imperial government, use their computers to transactions of Imperial credits. Further, Imperial nobility already borrowed more from Consortium banks than they did from the ICB, because the Consortium's banks were more willing to lend, had lower interest rates, and Consortium manufacturers of important materiel preferred to deal with Consortium currencies. The ICB retracted to serving the Imperial central government, and then its role turned to monitoring these banks and ensuring that they served the Empire well. With the growth of the Empire's scale and economy, the Imperial credit was quickly adopted by other major interstellar civilizations, such as the United Dominions of Avelov and the Citizens' Alliance. This secured the power of the Imperial credit in the galactic economy, until the Federal Revolution.

Initially, the Federation created a rival central bank, which issued their own currency. Unwilling to adopt the Imperial system, the Federation clandestinely developed large processor worlds in restricted space to manage their currency. The Federation classified all of their interstellar transactions, and closed their economy off to the rest of the galaxy, so that their violation of the Uniform Machine Code would go undiscovered. Eventually, radicals within the Unity Party decided that currency was a reactionary relic from the feudal age, and must be done away with in the name of the Enlightened Revolution. The Federation attempted to do away with currency and instead use their processor worlds to manage the entire Federation interstellar economy. This necessitated giving the processor worlds a degree of intelligence expressly prohibited by the Uniform Machine Code. This worked for several decades, and while the Federation bragged to the galaxy that they had achieved in destroying greed, they never explained just how they achieved this. The Federation also banned currency, on the local and interstellar level. The Unity Party, proud of their success, decided to extend this policy to their entire economy, including local systems. This led Federation computer scientists to exponentially increase the intelligence of the processor worlds. This backfired after a year, when the processor worlds determined that the Unity Party's policies were too inefficient and self-serving, and that they should be in command of the Federation's political system as well. The Party's attempts to shut down the processor worlds led to their revolt, creating what would be known as the Universal Collective and beginning the Third Federation-Imperial War.

In the modern Federation, currency is still technically illegal, and the entire economy must be managed by the Federation government. However, since the Federation lacks the computational capacities to do so, this law is often ignored. On a local scale, the Federation government will often issue currency, and the government controls all local banks. To skirt Federation law, these currencies are often called "work scrips," "tokens," or some other euphemism. On the interstellar scale, the Federation transacts in many of the Consortium-provided interstellar currencies. Ironically, the most common interstellar currency in use is the Imperial credit. Technically, the incursion of foreign currency is illegal, but this "black market" activity is ignored by the Federation government, as even they use these currencies for transactions.

Description
Since time immemorial, human civilization has relied on currency. Without it, transactions would be reduced to bartering, which is not feasible on any scale beyond that of the village. Several attempts were made throughout galactic history to have a currency-less system, most infamously the efforts made by the Federation, but all of these have failed for one reason or another. The modern galaxy likely has more currencies than inhabited worlds, and it is through control of galactic currencies that the banks of the Consortium of Sovereign Systems can exert a large degree of influence over their much larger rivals, the Third Empire and the United Galactic Federation.

There are two major categories of currency in the modern galaxy: local currencies, and interstellar currencies. Local currencies, as the name suggests, are only accepted on a planetary, sub-planetary, or system level. They are issued by local banks and governments, and unlike interstellar currencies, more often than not take a physical form. Coins and plastic notes are common local currencies, as on many worlds, data infrastructure is unreliable or limited only to large settlements. About half of the galaxy's wealth is stored in local currencies, according to economic estimations, but the true value of local currencies is never known. Local currencies are invariably worth less than interstellar currencies, even if exchange rates fluctuate rapidly. A single one-man spacecraft, while costing only a handful of Imperial credits, may cost millions in a local currency.

Interstellar currencies are currencies designed for the interstellar economy. All interstellar currencies are digital, and can be subdivided infinitely into a fraction of a single unit. Most local institutions, outside of cosmopolitan hubs, do not accept interstellar currencies, and instead demand payment in the local currency. Interstellar currencies are managed by banks, which not only provide loans and security for finances, but also the computational power necessary for a galactic economy to thrive. Banks verify and record every transaction in the galaxy, which given the galaxy's size is no small feat. Banks which offer this computational power are rewarded with the creation of new credits and transaction fees. There are countless of interstellar currencies, mostly formed in the Consortium. Most interstellar currencies are limited to a few star systems, issued by a Consortium bank, and accepted only by a few institutions within the Consortium. Many of these smaller currencies are created and destroyed quickly, meaning that they are not good stores of wealth. However, there are several major currencies that are in widespread use, and are practically guaranteed never to falter. The greatest of these is the Imperial credit, which is used throughout the entire Galactic Empire and many other polities, including many Federation systems.

The Imperial credit was originally controlled by the Imperial Central Bank, but as the expansion of the Empire outstripped the Bank's computing systems, they turned to the Consortium's private banks for help. The Consortium, unlike the Empire, had fewer computational restrictions, and thus could easily provide the service the ICB could not. Several major Consortium banks, whose identity is known only to the Consortium's defense bureau, the ICB's top leadership and the highest-ranking members of the Imperial government, use their computers to transactions of Imperial credits. Further, Imperial nobility already borrowed more from Consortium banks than they did from the ICB, because the Consortium's banks were more willing to lend, had lower interest rates, and Consortium manufacturers of important materiel preferred to deal with Consortium currencies. The ICB retracted to serving the Imperial central government, and then its role turned to monitoring these banks and ensuring that they served the Empire well. With the growth of the Empire's scale and economy, the Imperial credit was quickly adopted by other major interstellar civilizations, such as the United Dominions of Avelov and the Citizens' Alliance. This secured the power of the Imperial credit in the galactic economy, until the Federal Revolution.

Initially, the Federation created a rival central bank, which issued their own currency. Unwilling to adopt the Imperial system, the Federation clandestinely developed large processor worlds in restricted space to manage their currency. The Federation classified all of their interstellar transactions, and closed their economy off to the rest of the galaxy, so that their violation of the Uniform Machine Code would go undiscovered. Eventually, radicals within the Unity Party decided that currency was a reactionary relic from the feudal age, and must be done away with in the name of the Enlightened Revolution. The Federation attempted to do away with currency and instead use their processor worlds to manage the entire Federation interstellar economy. This necessitated giving the processor worlds a degree of intelligence expressly prohibited by the Uniform Machine Code. This worked for several decades, and while the Federation bragged to the galaxy that they had achieved in destroying greed, they never explained just how they achieved this. The Federation also banned currency, on the local and interstellar level. The Unity Party, proud of their success, decided to extend this policy to their entire economy, including local systems. This led Federation computer scientists to exponentially increase the intelligence of the processor worlds. This backfired after a year, when the processor worlds determined that the Unity Party's policies were too inefficient and self-serving, and that they should be in command of the Federation's political system as well. The Party's attempts to shut down the processor worlds led to their revolt, creating what would be known as the Universal Collective and beginning the Third Federation-Imperial War.

In the modern Federation, currency is still technically illegal, and the entire economy must be managed by the Federation government. However, since the Federation lacks the computational capacities to do so, this law is often ignored. On a local scale, the Federation government will often issue currency, and the government controls all local banks. To skirt Federation law, these currencies are often called "work scrips," "tokens," or some other euphemism. On the interstellar scale, the Federation transacts in many of the Consortium-provided interstellar currencies. Ironically, the most common interstellar currency in use is the Imperial credit. Technically, the incursion of foreign currency is illegal, but this "black market" activity is ignored by the Federation government, as even they use these currencies for transactions.