The concept of 'money' isn't just a human invention; it’s a biological strategy for survival.
April 15, 2026
Original Paper
Money is a Token of Cooperation: A Theory of Exchange in Animals
SSRN · 6500722
The Takeaway
Biologists used to think animal 'trading' was based on simple 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' altruism. This new theory suggests that money—defined as a transferable signal—actually solves a much harder problem: how to cooperate when you don't fully trust the other guy. Instead of needing a deep social bond, animals use tokens to coordinate complex, long-term exchanges within a 'Stag Hunt' strategy. It suggests that the roots of our global economy are buried deep in animal behavior, serving as a 'trust infrastructure' that predates civilization. This changes money from a 'social construct' into a fundamental tool of biological evolution. We were born to trade, not just to share.
From the abstract
I propose a biological account of money grounded in a proximate analysis of exchange. Under the standard framework, exchange is reciprocal altruism, a form of cooperation where fitness benefits are transferred between actors. I argue that this framing reflects a conflation of ultimate and proximate explanation. At the proximate level, exchange arises within the Stag Hunt as an equilibrium strategy with partner choice. It may be coordinated through signaling, which evolves within such equilibrium