Honestly, I will never stop being amazed at how little people know about the true history of the dollar. Here's a fact worth understanding: from 1913 to 2019, the purchasing power of the US currency has fallen by more than 95 percent. Yes, you read that correctly.

It all started with the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913. Back then, one dollar could buy about 30 bars of chocolate. Then came World War I, and the dollar began to displace the British pound as the world's reserve currency. By 1925, it was official. It seemed like a success, but never forget the hidden cost.

In 1933, when the Great Depression broke out, Roosevelt simply banned private ownership of gold. This was an effective devaluation of the dollar to stimulate the economy. Then came the Bretton Woods system in 1944, when the dollar was officially pegged to gold at a rate of $35 per ounce.

But the most significant moment was in 1971 — the so-called Nixon Shock. The US simply refused to exchange dollars for gold. The currency became pure fiat, and inflation in the 1970s went out of control. After the 2008 financial crisis, the Fed launched quantitative easing programs, which further inflated the money supply.

Why did this happen? Constant inflation at around 3.1 percent per year, uncontrolled growth of the money supply, abandonment of the gold standard — all of these allowed the government to finance deficits by printing money. The dollar has never regained its former value.

This is one of the reasons why people are turning to alternative assets. Here are the current market quotes: RIVER is trading at $11.46, down 2.71%; BANANAS31 is at $0.01, down 5.84%; FHE is at $0.02, down 4.40%. The market is always looking for new tools when old ones lose their value.