Money is a system that allows people to trade, measure value, and plan across time. Its role is practical and widely accepted across modern economies.

Money performs three essential functions:

Medium of exchange: enables transactions without barter
Unit of account: provides a consistent measure of prices and value
Store of value: preserves purchasing power for future use

Money works because society accepts it:

people trust it
governments issue and regulate it
businesses use it for pricing and payment
most of it exists digitally in deposits and transfers

Forms of money have changed—barter, commodities, paper currency, and now digital balances—but the functions remain constant.

Money is not:

a measure of personal worth
guaranteed to hold value under inflation
limited to physical cash

Money is simply the shared system society uses to coordinate economic activity.

1. What Money Is