Here lies the U.S. dollar, the bedrock of the American economy, and later of the world (1792 – 2021).
Born in Philadelphia by Alexander Hamilton, the U.S. dollar originally came in the form of metals such as gold, silver, and copper. But puberty was not kind to the U.S. dollar. In 1861, it had to take the form of paper in order to pay for the United States’ Civil War expenditures.
But as time went on, the dollar went from a currency backed by precious metals to a fiat currency, a mere piece of paper with the value determined by a group of elites. Even as the dollar became the backbone of the world, people with power overestimated its value and refused to stop treating the currency like it grows on trees. In the end, the dollar was devalued at a record rate and it lost its life. Hopefully, the next generation of currencies will be free from elite centralization and regulation. So here, we leave the dollar to Rest In Peace.
The dollar is survived (though not for long) by the Euro, as well as its children, Bitcoin and Ethereum, and its faithful pet, dogecoin.
