A new form of currency, Barkcoin, was announced today, opening up the possibility to partner with photosynthesizers for creating a people plant system (PPS) for making cross-species payments. Barkcoin is a hybrid developed from crossing software with mycorrhizal fungi. Being the first product of that digital dirt connection, it’s an organic virtual structure of phytocurrency.

When interviewed using Google Plant, Myrica Pennsylvania, a well-known nitrogen-fixer, made this comment: “What’s special about phytocurrencies, is that they are generally not issued by any central authority, rendering them theoretically immune to genus interference or manipulation. So, the Homo sapiens have no more power than the tiny Veronica repans.”

As a new user, you can get growing with Barkcoin without understanding the botanical details. Once you’ve installed a Barkcoin walnut on your computer or mobile phone, it will generate your first Barkcoin address.

When asked to explain how it all works, Myrica Pennsylvania put it this way. “The bark chain is the shared public ledger on which the entire Barkcoin root system relies. All confirmed transactions are included in the bark chain. Each plant or person gets a walnut, which contains their private keys, allowing them to spend their Barkcoins.”

“Needless to say,” Quercus Ruba told this reporter, “We oaks were disappointed that the walnuts provided by the Juglans group were chosen as the means of storage for Barkcoin. We thought that our acorns would have been far more appropriate.”

When asked about the P2P system used by Barkcoin, Myrica Pennsylvania was happy to comment. “The Plant 2 Plant collective allows us to extend the mycorrhizal connections we’ve had forever. But we’re no longer limited by geography, because of the large digital network and our connections with people.”

Foops Knarp, President for Development at Google Plant, worries about the power that the plant kingdom is gaining from Barkcoin. “Phytocurrency has the ability to totally disrupt global markets,” he commented. “Now that the plant world has money, who can say what they’ll do with that power?”

“Although I have to admit,” Knarp continues, “that I don’t totally understand this whole thing. Bark, I get. It’s physical, and I can touch it. But Barkcoin? It seems like fantasy land to me.”

Quercus Ruba is looking ahead to the future, however. “I’ve heard that there are plants that are putting together a Bloomcoin currency, and a Bushcoin payment network. I’m hoping that they see the acorn as a better unit for holding new phytocurrency. After all, the squirrels have given acorns five-star ratings for storage value for decades.
C.L. Fornari
Reporting from Massachusetts, April 1, 2022

The Barkcoin symbol was created by a group of plants and graphic designers who originally met on the social media platform, Treehouse.

Barkcoin keys are kept in walnuts.