Great Post Ryze, there is a lot to take in. One point to consider a bit more, a different perspective on what fiat represents.
While it's not backed by a physical thing like gold, it is backed by an economy. All the goods and services produced in an economy have value and it's this that gives fiat and governments value on the international scene. The different perspective here comes from considering fiat in the context of multiple nation states and their balance of trade rather than just on an individual basis.
Thanks for saying so. And I agree, it is a lot to take in, especially for someone like me, quite new to crypto and economics, lol.
That said, yes, technically every currency is backed by 'the economy of people doing things', since every currency sprung from the exchange of 'bartered goods and services.' I agree with you.
In this case 'unbacked' would likely be better written as 'unpegged.' As in the continuously printed money isn't 'pegged' to goods and services, or gold, or anything else at this point, it is simply printed on the whim of bankers and govts., and this printing drives its circulating numbers increasingly away from the actual goods and services being done, transforming into huge deficit-spending. In ancient Rome, the Denari was initially pegged to gold, until they started inflating it and printing fake coins. Similarly, initially promissory notes were 'pegged' to actual tangible gold, until the U.S. started spam-printing bills.
I could've gotten into this more, but it'd be another 5,000+ word article, lol, so I'm extremely grateful for you taking care of it here a bit in the comments.
Thanks so much for contributing this, I believe it raises an important clarification that fiat hasn't suddenly erased the value of all goods and services in the economy. (And I didn't mean to suggest it did, if so, my bad.)
Wishing you a great weekend! 🙏