[CamelCaseName]

This is really so obvious that it doesn't merit a discussion.

Yes, it is US dollars.

Why should you assume $ refers to USD?

Because the US is the global superpower. Trade and banking reserves overwhelmingly use USD.

No other currency, and certainly none that use the $ symbol, even come remotely close to the USD.

[skissane]

In my opinion, it is always better style to write US$ or USD than just $ - it is only a couple of extra characters, and it helps avoid any potential confusion

I particularly hate businesses which sell stuff internationally who put $ on their website rather than US$ / AU$ / etc. You can’t assume that just because it is an American company that $ means US$, because some (but far from all) American companies detect the customer is coming from Australia/Canada/whatever and automatically display localised prices. And don’t get me started about the websites that seem to be offering too-good-to-be-true deals on Australian hotels until I realise they are actually showing US dollar prices, but $ instead of US$ makes that non-obvious

[handsclean]

All that international trade and banking you talk about refers to it as USD or US$, not $.

To 95% of the world, the relevance and influence of USD isn’t remotely close to their own currency’s. Sure, it’s relevant to some industries and to the larger economy – that makes it like CNY or EUR are to you, nothing more.

I do think a USD assumption is reasonable, but only because the statement was made on HN, which is predominantly American. USD does not own the $ symbol outside of the US.

[tsimionescu]

It absolutely does. If a French person or Japanese person or Brazilian or Russian or Chinese person sees a $ sign in relation to international news, I can assure you they will assume USD.

Of course, a Canadian or Australian, or New Zealander, or Rhodesian, or Zambian, whose local currency also uses the same symbol, will tend to assume their local currency instead. But they are a minority of the world's population.

[0xFF0123]

Why not be explicit if there is room for misinterpretation or confusion, which this thread clearly demonstrates?

Especially on a thread specifically talking about currency conversion.

[seanhunter]

> All that international trade and banking you talk about refers to it as USD or US$, not $.

That is not true. For example on foreign exchange markets "Dollars" means USD. If you want AUD it's "ozzie", and if you want CAD it's "Loonie"[1], and NZD is "kiwi".

[1] I don't make the rules - FX markets are weird. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loonie

[MrVandemar]

> This is really so obvious that it doesn't merit a discussion.

It does merit discussion. This has been demonstrated. The parent shouldn't be downvoted for pointing out the ambiguity to an actual global population that exceeds the United States of America by some margin. It's not about being a "superpower" it's about clarity of communication and eyeballs.

Just like the date 04/10/2024. Is that a few days ago, or in a number of months? Wheras 2024-10-04 makes it explicit (in a sane way that denotes a clear hierarchy of values).

[MrVandemar]

I'm guessing 100% of the downvotes are from the "global superpower".