In February 2011, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shocked the world by calling for the replacement of the US dollar as the global currency (Rooney, 2011). In one report, the world's dirty little monetary secret had been exposed; confidence in the US dollar was weakening. Since then, the international attitude towards the US dollar has only gotten worse. With a 2013 debt of about 105 percent of gross domestic product and a negative outlook rating from Standard's and Poor, the United States looks like an insolvent bank that no one wants to keep their money in. Additionally, the dollar has lost 97 percent of its value. since it was removed from the gold standard in 1971 (Mack, 2011). This makes holding the dollar long term a losing proposition. While many people in the United States are fighting to keep the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency for as long as possible, the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency has become a threat to the stability of the U.S. economy and is unfair to most of the world's population. and should be replaced by a basket of currencies that would allow all countries, large and small, to see their “essential interests respected and protected on an equal footing”. (Puzzanghera, 2013). Historically, international payments consisted almost entirely of gold, silver and other precious metals. Unfortunately, these metals were bulky and made trade difficult. In 1694, as the Bank of England remitted gold for pounds sterling at a fixed exchange rate on presentation, many countries found it more convenient to carry pounds sterling than gold or other metals for the trade. The pound sterling was known for being "as good as gold" and became the world's first reserve currency. The pound sterling remained the world's reserve currency middle of paper......t The Asian dollar standard has been resurrected. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Moran, A. (2014). Can Bitcoin and other competing currencies coexist? Retrieved from http://www.pfhub.com/can-bitcoin-and-other-competing-currencies-coexist-432/Puzzanghera, J. (October 14, 2013). China calls for replacement of dollar as global reserve currency Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/Rooney, B (February 10, 2011). The IMF calls for an alternative to the dollar. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/10/markets/dollar/The Wall Street Journal. (nd) Comparison of debt ratios. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/Warner, J. (2013). The sun is setting on the supremacy of the dollar, and with it on American power. Retrieved from telegraph.co.uk Williamson, J. (2005). A currency basket for East Asia, not just China. Washington, DC: Peterson Institute for International Economics.