Staff Reporter|A significant number of people believe money and currency are the same thing but, is this true? No! Currency is simply paper. The true money, for as long as mankind can remember, has always been gold. History records of any great Kingdom or Empire state one common denominator which made these nations powerful. The possession of a lot of gold! Fast forward centuries later into this tech-driven era, gold still holds its value.

Let’s look at the United States dollar, for example. Its currency was backed by gold until the early seventies when the country’s 37th President Richard Nixon “suspended” the convertibility of the US dollar into gold. President Nixon’s decision began the age of ‘Fiat’ currency printing. This is the reason why prices continue to rise. Currency is losing its value against gold. So why is this all important? Well, if you know what real money is, you will be wiser about where you store your value.

The difference between Currency And Money

The one major difference between currency and money that many are not conscious of, is the store of value. Currency is not a store of value, in fact, it can even go to zero because of extreme circumstances. It is also volatile because it has no intrinsic value. Money, on the other hand, is a store of value. Gold (which is money) has always been a consistent store of value. Even when the world financial markets become unpredictable, investors turn to gold because it is less risky and more secure. If you asked the middle-class population of countries that have experienced an economic meltdown, most will tell you they’ve lost their life savings, retirement funds and their children’s college funds because it was all stored in Fiat.

So if one is to secure their future, how would it be possible with fiat currency? Does this mean some cash in the bank is not a secure method of storing value? If it isn’t then what is stopping us from gaining the real money? Ever heard of gold-backed currencies? Well, reports have surfaced online claiming the late Muammar Gadaffi had planned to rival fiat currency by introducing a gold-backed currency (the Dinar) which countries had to use for international trade. This posed as a serious threat to the US dollar which is the global currency that is used when pegging prices of precious goods such as crude oil.

According to globalresearch.com, this threat to the dollar is the real reason Gadaffi had to be overthrown because ultimately, it would have been the end of the US dollar as we know it. Many critical thinkers within the cryptocurrency-space took a page from the late President’s book because they realise people no longer have money to use as a store of value. This is why there is a surge of gold-backed cryptocurrencies that are trying to address the issues surrounding value storage. The intention is to return to ‘the golden standard’ when currency was money because it represented actual value which is gold.

Now the question is, are people ready to adopt these currencies? Are people willing to store their value in real money as opposed to currency which is susceptible to inflation and economic meltdown? Only time will tell, but one thing for sure is, income earners are being robbed of their value by the day, for as long as they have fiat currency savings and non-asset wealth. However, the first step to winning your wealth back is to understand the difference between currency and money. Hopefully, this will encourage people to save money instead of currency and to research more on the matter.