fiat currency

Money that has value because a government declares it legal tender, not because it is backed by a physical commodity like gold — its value rests on public trust in the issuing government.

• fiat/ˈfiːæt/(n)法令；命令

• fiat currency system
• fiat money
• issue fiat currency
• fiat vs gold standard
• fiat currency inflation

1. 1.Every major currency today — the US dollar, euro, yen, and yuan — is fiat currency, backed by government authority rather than gold reserves. (modern monetary system)
2. 2.Bitcoin was conceived partly as an alternative to fiat currencies, removing the need to trust governments not to inflate the money supply — though it introduced different trust problems. (cryptocurrency context)

• paper money (informal, though modern money is mostly digital)
• legal tender (money that must be accepted for debts)

"fiat" from Latin "fiat" (let it be done) — money that exists because the government says so