20,000 sardex. spent them on a solar energy system and an air conditioner and other machines and materials. i can buy things without any problem. reporter: without sardex, michele cherchi tells us, he doesn't know if his business would have survived. the restaurant owner and cheesemonger is just one of many small and mid-size businesses, who want to invest but can't. the banks won't help them. cherchi: we asked banks for a loan. but we all know how long they take and what kind of guarantees they demand. banks only give you money if you already have some. but if i had the money, i wouldn't need to borrow any. reporter: five sardinians came up with a solution to the problem. they created the sardex. a virtual currency. an alternative to the euro, it has real value when trading goods or services. most importantly, the network offers companies loans. interest free. one sardex is equal to one euro. >> we believe in cooperation, trust and local commerce. that's the difference. in the financial world, peop