[pastProlog]

> The entire concept of fiat currency is abstraction

Then why does the US still maintain over 8000 tons of gold at Fort Knox and elsewhere, 45 years after closing the gold window?

Of course even before 1971 paper currency was an abstraction as well - it was a piece of paper to get a commodity, not the commodity itself.

[myowncrapulence]

As of April 2016 , Fort Knox holdings are worth about $180 billion.

There was approximately $1.48 trillion USD in circulation as of October 20, 2016.

There is about $8.22 in digital assets for every $1 we have in physical gold.