The Dibspace site acts as a barter marketplace where businesses and customers exchange goods and services using dibits instead of dollars.

The site is premised on the idea that businesses, particularly those offering services, have unfilled hours. They can post their surplus services or goods on the site and wait for others to bid, offering dibits, which are worth the same as a dollar.

The dibits cannot be cashed out, instead businesses can use their credit to obtain services from other participating business and people.

For example, a dog grooming firm can post a specific slot on the site and then use the dibits it charges to pay a Web designer to build it a site.

Users obtain their initial stock of dibits when they open an account and gain more by referring people and businesses and posting offers.

The site, focussed on the Seattle area, has around 4000 users, with nearly half a million dollars worth of goods and services traded since its launch last February.

Founder Dominic Canterbury is now seeking to gain some publicity by living on the currency for one year.

"Living purely on a secondary currency is uncharted territory, but given the strength of the Dibspace economy, I should be able to live pretty lavishly," he says.