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People want something to hold, when they give up their labor or other forms of property. To hold gold coins in their hands or paper currency, gave them a sense of security that they were not being defrauded. This understandable reticence to give up real property for an IOU seems reasonable. However, the fear and risk that makes the behavior understandable means we lack a formal economy. What we are trying to do is to maintain a barter relationship in a complex modern economy. There is a world of difference between a means of exchange that allows us to tranche assets. Some assets are naturally modular, like cigarettes and others, such as gold, can be quantified by weight. This makes them good candidates for a medium of exchange. But money in its pure state is a unit of account, a far different thing.