Homesteading

Historically, "homesteading" refers to both a legal principle of claiming "unclaimed" natural resources which forms a strong foundation in many anarcho-capitalist philosophies, and a self-sufficient lifestyle on a "homestead", a dwelling which may have isolation from those around it but retains it's origin in the original legal principle - or is enabled by a government for physical expansion. Both of these uses of the term have a strong background in space colonization and are now still relevant to certain activities by the Inner System.

Luna and Venus do not have good terrain for classical homesteading either way, and required too much structure and technical assistance to settle. Mars, on the other hand, has much more land availability - and so in the early colonization period it was not uncommon for governments and early corporations to offer "homestead" plots for cheap on scales similar to classical Homestead Acts, often with caveats about terraforming or legal taxation. These systems enabled the diaspora of certain small settlements on Mars pre-Fall, and lead to the small croppings of homesteads, smallholds, compounds, etc which can still be seen in some regions today - though due to the rough environment of Mars, nomadic life was preferred.

After the Fall, the legal issues of "de-nationalization" for many colonies, the rise of the Tharsis League and the Planetary Consortium and their cooperation via the TTO on terraforming issues threw the legality of some prior homesteading for a loop. Relocations due to the TQZ or terraforming was not uncommon, and corporations often got first choice on acquiring new land. But the influence of the Martian city states can only go so far, and the Tharsis League wished to lend structure to the outback in some way - leading to the revival of some legal homesteading acts. This was done to appease rural martians and nationalists, but also had the approval of the Planetary Consortium. For hypercapitalists, the homesteads promote a middle class of consumers who can be marketed to for luxury goods or are otherwise engaged in the system - for the Barsoomians the hope is to gain control of land seperate from the hypercorps and promote self-sufficient living. Ultimately, neither side got their exact desire out of the resulting legal framework - but should political shifts occur strongly one way or the other the League's rules could help promote influence for either side.

The basic way this functions is handled in a Homesteading contract. Similar to an indentureship, but with the focus on land instead of a morph and with different labor expectations. The homesteader buys the land from the Tharsis League (or occasionally an interested hypercorp) for a much reduced fee or in payment over a period of years, usually 5-10. In exchange, they must live on and work on the property for the duration of the contract - after which point the provisions are removed, and the land is fully legally owned by the homesteader who can do with it what they will. Typically "working the land" often has provisions to aid in terraforming operations - which can sometimes breed tension between homesteaders and Nomads. Tharsis contracts are generally fairly plain, other than the requirements to follow TTO guidelines - but also often lack support, being fully self-sufficient farms. Corporate contracts tend to involve more legal complexities and components aimed to bring profit to the corporations, such as a famous instance where Fa Jing homesteaded a large plot of land, but retained the legal right to seize back any land where the Homesteader discovered mineral deposits - basically arranging a scheme where people paid to survey land for minerals.

Homesteading is not as popular on Mars despite it's origins as it is with the Pathfinder corporation on Exoplanets. Homestead contracts are intended to bring in those "middle class" colonists who are already instanced and may not require a new morph but can still provide valuable skills and labor to colonies in non-specialist ways. While these contracts involve more varied terrain and support, many, such as in the Outer System, see them as slightly more predatory - the unspoken constraint being that all supplies must come and go through the Pandora Gates controlled by Pathfinder.

As a legal principle, homesteading is also a huge aspect in asteroid families and regions, like the Main Belt. It's one thing to claim to own an asteroid from several AU away - it is entirely another thing to actually settle on it and begin to work it. This sort of attitude drove the success of many strains of Extropian thinking in early asteroid colonization and mining. While corporations and governments would lay claim to asteroids, very rarely did the greater transhuman community uphold such claims unless the claimant could show they were willing and capable to physically access and produce from the body - cutting down on entities attempting to extort others by holding and selling legal rights to an object they would never practically exert control over. As hypercorps grew in power and influence in the time immediately before the Fall, however, several militant expulsions of "squatters" occurred, which may drive why self-defense is a strong meme in many brinker and Extropian clades.

Even now, there is a strong aspect of the homesteading principle to Belters. If you can land on a rock and live and work it, it's yours. You get first say on who else can work and live on the rock, and have a right to protect yourself from aggression against it. Due to desire to work with independant Belters and Extropians, many less militant hypercorps have taken the hint and prefer to buy out small communities who settle on asteroids they desire. Homesteading is not as popular in the Outer System excepting Extropian circles. The Jovians have no excess land to homestead, and groups such as the Commonwealth do not hold much with the principle for their socialist or communist ideals. That said, there is a similar provision for those who are reputable to live on their own in the Titanian wilderness, both in nomadic and structured form - just that the unspoken contract is that excess resources will be shared with the wider community.

Currency

Below is a list of currency systems or common trade standards which function like currency in the Solar System. This list includes not only the previously explained materials appearing in EP, but also some new ideas which might introduce local economic flavor to your game besides just tracking "credits".

ANTIQUE COINS
Historic Earth coins minted of metal are used as a trade good or currency system in some places, and are harder to fake than bills or "old money". Specific coins in some amounts are considered "standard" for purposes of anonymous payment.

CREDIT
Aka "Inner System Credit", an  electronic monetary system backed by all major capitalist factions. Credit can be transferred electronically, or through certified credit chips (which are anonymous). Some habs even use physical bills.

CRYPTO-CRED
Cryptocurrency. It is acquired through anonymous services, can be transferred anonymously to another party and then is redeemed through a similar service. Has a 10% fee to transfer to or from Credit

G-YEN
Short for "Gigayen". This corporate scrip is issued by the corporate empire of Go-Nin group among all their employees and subsidiaries. While many employees are still paid in credits in some form, those working in Go-Nin run habitats, laboratories or exoplanet facilities may be paid all or partially in G-Yen instead, which can be spent at "company stores" for goods and services. G-Yen is almost entirely useless except to Go-Nin employees.

KERMA
Currency used on habitat 500 Bushels. A bronze coin marked with the current government executive based on the year. Each Kerma has a value roughly equivalent to "One bushel" of product and thus is highly valued in their society.

KRONER
Titanian currency, worth the approximate market value of 1 TB of qubits. This social currency is "paid" to microcorp workers under government charter and reinvested in other microcorps or social programs to drive the greater economy. Loopholes allow it to be converted to credit.

M-CREDIT
Aka "Mutualist Credit". These credits are issued and created at the moment of a transaction, thus acting like an interest-free loan. Has a 1-to-1 exchange with Credit, and Mutualists won't allow a person to get deep a negative balance to pay back.

NOYO
Currency which only exists on the asteroid hab of Nova York. The Noyo begins devaluing immediately when issued - though the rate of devaluation is increased or decreased based on internal reputation metrics. Standard devaluation takes 1-2 months.

PELLETS
Pachinko is still a popular business/hobby in several parts of the Solar System, and their use of pellets or balls to get around many gambling regulations remains. This means that pachinko Pellets can easily double as a form of currency - with an exchange rate determined by your local pachinko business. This means that as a substitute for credit the value of a pellet is often determined by local business or criminal interests.

STACKS
Groups like Nine Lives, or the habs they control like Legba, often accept transfer of Cortical Stacks or human egos as currency of a form. There is no exact price for an individual stack (though most have a minimum value floor) and it depends on the nature of the Ego inside the Stack.

WATER TOKENS
Water tokens are an old form of currency, still utilized by some habitats or corporations who do not have perfect access to water. The token is a physical token or chit which is "valued" at a certain volume of (usually combinations of 1 liter) which can be exchanged with the local government or corporate venue in exchange for the amount of water. Since that volume of water can be calculated to have a cost, they might also be exchanged for other goods or services.