How has money evolved throughout human history?

The answer

The evolution of money reflects humanity's increasing economic complexity. Commodity money (objects with intrinsic value like grain, cattle, or metals) gave way to representative money (paper or tokens backed by commodities) and eventually to fiat money (currency backed only by government decree and public trust). China invented paper money during the Tang Dynasty (7th century CE), roughly 700 years before Europe. The gold standard, which pegged currency values to gold reserves, dominated international finance until the United States abandoned it in 1971. Credit cards emerged in the 1950s, digital banking in the 1990s, and cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) in 2009, each fundamentally altering how humans conceptualize value and trust. Today, over 90% of the world's money exists only as digital entries in bank databases, and several nations including the Bahamas and Nigeria have launched central bank digital currencies.