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Bitcoin Well Explains 0: What is Money? - 3 - The Fall of Gold and the Fiat Trap

Gold was the ultimate money for 5,000 years. So how did it lose to paper? The answer isn't just economics—it's physics. ⚛️

Gold is heavy, dangerous to transport, and slow. To speed up trade, we invented a "Layer 2" solution called paper receipts. That convenience introduced a fatal flaw: Trust. In this episode, we trace the "Slow Motion Heist" that trapped the world in a fiat system:

The birth of Fractional Reserve Banking (printing more receipts than gold).

The 1933 Confiscation (Executive Order 6102).

The 1971 Default (The Nixon Shock). We explain how the world moved from "verified value" to "trust me, bro" money—and why we are now living through a monetary experiment with no historical precedent.

Timestamps: 0:00 - The Physics Problem (Gold's "Bug") 🪨
0:50 - The Paper Trap (Layer 2 Explained) 📄
1:30 - The Birth of Fractional Reserve Banking 🏦
2:10 - 1933: The Great Confiscation (FDR) 🔨
3:30 - 1971: The Default (Nixon Shock) 📺
4:45 - The Fiat Experiment Begins

HistoryOfMoney #GoldStandard #NixonShock #FiatCurrency #EconomicHistory #BitcoinEducation #Inflation #FederalReserve #1971