fiat money

noun

: money (such as paper currency) not convertible into coin or specie of equivalent value

Examples of fiat money in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web This shift toward dollarization—where locals prefer assets like USDC over fiat money—has implications far beyond financial convenience. Justin Doom, Fortune Crypto, 8 Oct. 2023 Coinbase intends to make NFT trading even more accessible by allowing buyers to pay for NFT items with fiat money with Mastercard’s help. Chris Smith, BGR, 19 Jan. 2022 The failure of both banks could leave cryptocurrency companies without some of the round-the-clock payment networks used to convert digital currencies into fiat money. Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 15 Mar. 2023 Investigators will also search for where the crypto came from; some victims will have sent fiat money and others digital currencies. Luisa Beltran, Fortune, 21 Dec. 2022 The norm now is fiat money, which has no intrinsic value and is not backed by anything that does. Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 10 Apr. 2021 Likely, fiat money inflation is running around 5% currently, not the 12-month 8.6% recently reported. John S. Tobey, Forbes, 24 June 2022 Pro-climate monetary policies need to involve fiat money, meaning money created by central banks, and/or authorized by legislatures. Christian Holub, EW.com, 20 June 2022 Central banks, on the other hand, own fiat money and can make exceptions by printing more. Rufas Kamau, Forbes, 12 Apr. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fiat money.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1876, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fiat money was in 1876

Dictionary Entries Near fiat money

Cite this Entry

“Fiat money.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiat%20money. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023.

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