Since 1934, thousands of Swiss firms have traded in a second currency that isn't the franc
Founded by small business owners during the Great Depression, Switzerland's WIR Bank runs a complementary currency — the WIR franc, pegged 1:1 to the Swiss franc — that tens of thousands of small and medium businesses use to trade with each other on credit. Economists who've studied it found its usage tends to rise precisely when the regular economy is struggling, acting as a built-in buffer against downturns.