Glossary

Portability

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Portability is the ability of a good to be transported easily across space. Portability is an important feature of sound money; in order for a money to be widely adopted, and therefore usable, it must be able to move across borders, between individuals, and over long distances with relative ease. If a money is not sufficiently portable, it will not be used by enough individuals to support an economy and will quickly be replaced.

While gold fulfilled many of the necessary traits of money, its poor portability hindered its use and ultimately led to its centralization in the hands of banks.