30% of Americans Believe the U.S. Dollar Is Backed by Gold

London (Nov 1)  Genesis Mining has conducted a survey asking what the U.S. dollar is backed by. Apparently, around 30% of the U.S. public believes that the dollar is still backed by gold.

The Bretton Woods system ended in 1971, and it was then that the convertibility of USD to gold was officially terminated. The dollar became solely a fiat currency, and exchange rates were free-floating. Despite this happening close to 50 years ago, some Americans are still under the impression that gold is tied to dollars in some way.

Polling the Public on the Dollar

Bitcoin hashrate provider Genesis Mining conducted an illuminating poll recently, which demonstrates how little the public knows about the currency they use every day. These are the results.

◾29.3% of the public believes the dollar is backed by gold.

◾30.1% say the government backs it.

◾7.1% said nothing.

◾5.8% said bonds.

◾4.1% said oil.

◾23.6% said they had no idea.

The results are interesting. The misconception about the U.S. dollar seems to run deep, with almost a quarter of all people having no idea whatsoever on what backs it. Yet, as one Twitter user writes, 4.1% of Americans who responded with “oil” might be on a higher plane of thinking altogether.

INnews