⛩️Introduction

The year was 1971, and the global economy was undergoing a seismic transformation. On August 15th of that year, President Richard Nixon stood before the American people to announce unprecedented steps that would forever change the direction of international finance. This historic event, known as the Nixon Shock, marked the end of an era and the start of a new chapter in global economics.

Until 1971, after the Bretton Woods system, the international monetary system required that all fiat currencies used for international transactions be tied to gold at a set rate of $35 per ounce. This compelled all major currencies to purchase gold as reserves and issue money correspondingly. This arrangement provided a sense of stability to global financial markets and facilitated international trade by reducing exchange rate uncertainty.

On that fateful day in August, President Nixon took to the airwaves to address the nation and announce a series of radical measures aimed at restoring economic stability. The chief among these was the suspension of the dollar's convertibility into gold, effectively severing the last remaining link between major currencies and the precious metal.

The Nixon Shock had immediate and extensive, far-reaching consequences. This paved the way for a new age of fiat currencies, where the value of money was established by government decree instead of being based on a fixed asset. The enhanced flexibility in monetary policy sparked this new economic development but also brought new difficulties, such as rising inflationary pressures and exchange currency instability.

By the time of the 2008 financial crisis in the United States, it is estimated that they had printed over 8 trillion dollars, whereas they possessed only approximately 8,133.5 metric tons of gold, which were valued at only a few hundred billion dollars. This situation fostered financial insecurity regarding the US economy, prompting a significant sell-off of US dollars. Amidst the fallout from the crisis, In the aftermath of the crisis, a new technological innovation arose that promised to revolutionise not only financial services but also a variety of other industries: blockchain technology.

On October 31st, 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto unveiled the white paper introducing Bitcoin (BTC) - BTC: An Electronic Cash System in the Peer-to-Peer Network, At the heart of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, lies blockchain technology which serves as the foundational framework enabling their operation. Since then, the value of digital assets that incorporate blockchain technology has skyrocketed, with an estimated market valuation of trillions of dollars.

In an ideal future, all flows of funds happen on a public blockchain. Picture yourself as an Individual from India who is a cotton trader selling your exquisite suvin cotton online. You exclusively accept USDT as payment, and all your suppliers for farm materials also agree to USDT transactions. USDT operates on various protocols, but let's assume you opt for the ERC-20 version. That means you can verify what was paid and what was earned for every cotton sold.

Now for a corporation, think as your accountant compiles the usual cash flow, balance sheet, and income statements. However, in addition, the accountant's ledger can also be confirmed objectively, through inquiries to the blockchain, that the payments were indeed made and received as indicated in the statements. For this scenario, you don't require an external third-party accounting or auditing company to validate your honesty for a fee; Ethereum or any blockchain for that matter provides this verification at no cost. In particular, the recent developments of cryptocurrency ETFs by industry giants such as BlackRock and Fidelity have contributed to the surge in demand. These ETFs offer investors a convenient and regulated way to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies without the complexities of directly purchasing and storing digital assets.