In 2025, if you ask “What exactly is money?”, most people would say: numbers on a screen, a balance in your banking app, or a stack of banknotes. But in reality, none of this “money” is backed by gold, silver, or any physical commodity anymore. It’s simply fiat money — value created by government decree and collective trust.
In 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon suspended the dollar’s convertibility to gold (the famous “Nixon Shock”), effectively killing the 1944 Bretton Woods system. From that moment, all major global currencies became pure fiat — their value stems from trust in governments and economies, not gold reserves.As of 2025, no country uses a true gold standard. There’s occasional political talk (even in the U.S.) about returning to it, but the global economy is far too large for the world’s gold supply to back it.
So Why Don’t Governments Just Print Unlimited Money? Because of inflation — or worse, hyperinflation.Printing money increases the money supply. If goods and services don’t grow at the same pace, money loses value. History is brutal:
- Weimar Germany in the 1920s printed trillions — a loaf of bread eventually cost wheelbarrows of cash.
- Recent cases in Zimbabwe and Venezuela turned currency into worthless paper. Printing can stimulate short-term growth, but long-term it’s a hidden tax: your savings and wages buy less. In 2025, central banks still treat “controlling inflation” as job #1 for this exact reason.
What Could Money Become Next?People are imagining new anchors:
- Stablecoins In 2025, the stablecoin market exceeds $300 billion (USDT and USDC dominate). Daily transaction volume already rivals or beats Visa. Most are pegged to dollars, Treasuries, or other assets, but on blockchain — instant, cheap, borderless. With U.S. GENIUS Act, EU’s MiCA, and more regulation, stablecoins aren’t wild anymore; they’re becoming “digital fiat 2.0” for payments, DeFi, and everyday use.
- Rare Earth Elements Some dream of backing money with rare earths — critical for EVs, renewables, phones, and weapons (China controls ~90% of supply). Reality check: mining is dirty, prices swing wildly, supply is geopolitically weaponized. No serious proposal exists for a “rare earth standard.” They’re strategic resources, not money.
- AI won’t be money itself, but it’s reshaping everything about money:
- AI advisors already optimize your portfolio based on spending habits and risk.
- Fraud detection, real-time risk scoring, even CBDC issuance runs on AI.
- Future credit might come from your digital footprint, not traditional scores.Whoever controls the best AI will control the future of finance.
For over 50 years, we’ve proven pure fiat can work (with occasional crises). But trust has limits — exploding debt, runaway inflation, or geopolitical shocks make people hunt for new anchors.Stablecoins are the closest real-world contender. Rare earths are too politicized. AI is the tool making everything smarter.
The real question isn’t “What is money?” but “Who do we trust to safeguard value?” If you’re confused about the future of money too, feel free to reach out. We’re not a central bank, but we’re happy to be the ones thinking it through with you.(We want to be the people who support you. Ask the right people, and the future of money won’t leave you lost.)