translation: study shows majority of US consumers doesnt know how fiat really works.
Doh! Where do dollars come from? I think less than 10% is in tangible notes. The plastic cards are capable of reproducing pseudo-dollars or something and then there is fractional reserve banking, oh the humanity!
An estimation for the M0 (which is tangible notes) is only about $1.2 trillion or $4000 per each person in the United States.
Most of the money at this point is all digital money / fractional reserve which is not backed by anything tangible and can be created out of thin air, much to the delight of the banking class.
The credit / debit card is a genius innovation as the banks essentially took your tangible notes and gave you made up digital money in return. If the whole digital banking system were to collapse then the banks would be a better position than most people, as they're the ones with most of the tangible notes and presumably have bullion reserves.
Yes digital currencies are also digital but, instead of trusting some banker with ulterior motives, you are trusting the public ledger and the mathematical algorithms.