Ok, you got me, according to wikipedia the gold standard was abandoned in the 30s. Bretton Woods, etc. Read this: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/nixon-shock.

My point was, the world will adopt Bitcoin whenever it wants, or never. Governments don't need to use it as a substitute for gold for it to gain value. I suspect governments will never have a global reserve currency, period.

More likely, within the next few years or sooner, most rich people will hold bitcoin or some other crypto in their investment portfolios as a "chaos hedge" against inflation or economic distress. In that regard, yes, it functions like gold.

I can envision a world in 30-40 years where fiat currency is simply one option for buying things. You can buy a house in euros or a real estate currency; you can buy a car in yen or a car currency; you can buy groceries with dollars or WABIs or Litecoin or...whatever you want.

And only then, at that point, will the global financial system be in any jeopardy. Regulators are horrible at managing technological change, and decentralized currency is a big one. But will the change be for the better or worse?