When the pandemic hit, the US dollar was as mighty as ever. Despite talk of faltering American supremacy, the dollar ruled as the medium of international trade, the anchor against which other nations value their currencies, and the “reserve currency” most central banks hold as savings.
Before the US, only five powers had enjoyed the coveted “reserve currency” status, going back to the mid-1400s: Portugal, then Spain, the Netherlands, France and Britain. Those reigns lasted 94 years on average. At the start of 2020, the dollar’s run had endured 100 years. That would have been reason to question how much longer it could continue, but for one caveat: the lack of a successor.
Read the article @ https://www.ft.com/content/ea33b688-12e0-459c-80c5-2efba58e6f1a
At the time of writing this thread there was no paywall at Financial Times for this article
Before the US, only five powers had enjoyed the coveted “reserve currency” status, going back to the mid-1400s: Portugal, then Spain, the Netherlands, France and Britain. Those reigns lasted 94 years on average. At the start of 2020, the dollar’s run had endured 100 years. That would have been reason to question how much longer it could continue, but for one caveat: the lack of a successor.
Read the article @ https://www.ft.com/content/ea33b688-12e0-459c-80c5-2efba58e6f1a
At the time of writing this thread there was no paywall at Financial Times for this article
Bitcoin can certainly provide an alternative. It is more likely that statism or authoritarianism (socialism, fascism, communism, totalitarianism etc) will undermine the dollar with bitcoin being there to pick up the pieces vs bitcoin causing it.
As soon as they start debasing fiat currency, it is lost.
The dollar hasn't hit a century of being fiat yet, a reserve currency based on some objective value can last as long as the political class doesn't debase it.