I didn't read the article, but I scrolled through it until I found the place where he answers the question in the headline: What is money? Well, the answer to

I didn't read the article, but I scrolled through it until I found the place where he answers the question in the headline: What is money? Well, the answer to that question ties into the difference between currency and money. Currency is some other entity’s liability, and they can choose whether or not to honor that particular liability. Money is something that is intrinsically valuable in its own right to other entities, and that has no counterparty risk if you custody it yourself (although it may have pricing risk related to supply and demand). In other words, Russia’s gold is money; their FX reserves are currency. The same is true for other countries.