The FUTURE of MONETARY EXCHANGE: Will Digital Become King?

Those who study money know the long and winding road of the American monetary system over the last century.

- JOSHUA MCMORROW-HERNANDEZ

Just 100 years ago, America had circulating gold and silver coins, the nation was still on the gold standard, and gold and silver certificate paper currency was backed by physical bullion. But things changed.

Today, fewer and fewer people use tangible forms of money. Even debit and credit cards are giving way to virtual payment systems activated with the tap of a mobile device. Meanwhile, digital monies - such as cryptocurrency - are gaining steam. As coins, paper money, and even plastic cards seem to be going the way of the dodo bird, the question becomes, "what's next for monetary exchange?"

WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT

Even as efforts to eliminate the one-cent coin occasionally echo in the halls of Congress, national polls still indicate that people want the penny around. Consider a 2014 YouGovAmerica poll revealing 51% of respondents opposed removing the cent from circulation, with 68% wanting to keep the penny per a 2019 Americans for Common Cents poll. This, despite that it cost 2.1 cents for the U.S. Mint to produce a single one-cent coin in 2021. And if it’s surprising that Americans still like their pennies, it may be shocking that some politicians want to resurrect the gold standard in the U.S. more than five decades after it was officially abandoned.

IS THE GOLD STANDARD COMING BACK?