Since Nixon ended dollar-gold convertibility in 1971, the US dollar has lost over 87% of its purchasing power. This dashboard visualizes the erosion of fiat currency value using CPI data, M2 money supply growth, and compares it to Bitcoin's emergence as a scarce, non-inflatable alternative.
Dollar debasement since 1971
-87.3%
$1.00 → $0.13 in real terms
M2 money supply growth
3047%
$0.685T → $21.6T since 1971
Bitcoin CAGR since 2010
152%
$0.09 → $97,000 per year avg
Live BTC price
$97,000
Static estimate — connecting...
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30-day price history from CoinGecko
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Dollar indexed to $1.00 in 1971 | BTC indexed to $1.00 in 2010
Dollar now
$1 BTC (2010)
The dollar line shows the relentless erosion of purchasing power since the end of Bretton Woods. The BTC line (log scale recommended) shows the opposite trajectory: a $1 investment in 2010 Bitcoin.
US dollars in circulation (trillions)
31x since 1971
Note the exponential acceleration after 2008 (Financial Crisis) and 2020 (COVID stimulus). M2 grew more from 2020-2021 than in the entire decade of the 1970s.
Annual average price (USD)
2025 avg
See what your savings would be worth today — in real purchasing power and in Bitcoin.
Real purchasing power today
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If converted to Bitcoin instead
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The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' primary measure of inflation. It tracks the average price change of a basket of goods and services over time. While widely used, CPI has methodological limitations — hedonic adjustments, substitution effects, and changes to the basket composition mean it may understate the true cost-of-living increase experienced by consumers. Alternative measures like the Chapwood Index or ShadowStats suggest real inflation may be significantly higher.
Named after 18th-century economist Richard Cantillon, the Cantillon Effect describes how newly created money doesn't enter the economy evenly. Those closest to the money source — banks, large institutions, government contractors — get to spend new money before prices adjust, while everyone else faces higher prices with the same income. This creates a wealth transfer from savers and wage earners to asset holders and those with early access to credit.
On this date, President Nixon suspended the dollar's convertibility to gold, ending the Bretton Woods system. Previously, foreign governments could redeem $35 for one ounce of gold, which constrained money supply growth. After the "Nixon Shock," the dollar became a purely fiat currency — backed by nothing but government decree. Since then, the M2 money supply has grown from $685 billion to over $21 trillion, and the dollar has lost over 87% of its purchasing power.
Bitcoin's fixed supply of 21 million coins makes it the first truly scarce digital asset. Unlike fiat currencies, no central authority can increase Bitcoin's supply. Its emission schedule (halving every ~4 years) is enforced by code and consensus, not policy decisions. While volatile in the short term, Bitcoin has been the best-performing asset class over any 4+ year period since its inception, precisely because it cannot be debased.