Most Currencies Last Only 33 Years, BIS Finds
Businesses with multi-year foreign-currency contracts should check redenomination terms against a historical base rate.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Financial Services
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The Bank for International Settlements released Working Paper 1392, tracking 568 currencies from 1850 to 2026 and finding a median state-issued currency lifespan of 33 years. Roughly 70% of currencies in the database have been discontinued, most often for economic reasons.
Why it matters
For operators pricing contracts, holding cash reserves, or setting multi-year cross-border terms, the study quantifies how often the currency underlying a deal can itself disappear. The finding gives finance teams a historical baseline for currency redenomination and discontinuation risk, not a forecast for any single currency.
The BIS database covers 568 currencies across 1850 to 2026, with a median state-issued currency lifespan of 33 years. About 70% of those currencies have since been discontinued, and the study attributes the usual cause to economic factors.
The players
Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
The Basel-based central bank for central banks, which publishes research on monetary and financial stability that shapes international banking standards.
Iñaki Aldasoro
BIS economist and author of Paper 175, a monetary-economics analysis of how money depends on central-bank trust and credit elasticity.
The details
The working paper tracked the life cycles of currencies over more than 175 years to measure how long monetary units typically remain in circulation. Discontinuation most often followed economic stress, which means currency risk tends to surface during periods of financial strain rather than in stable conditions. Operators with exposure to currencies in that historical risk profile can use the database as a reference point when assessing long-dated contracts.
Timeline
November 6, 2026: BIS Working Paper 1392 released.
October 14, 2026: BIS Paper 175 by Iñaki Aldasoro released.
Market Landscape
The BIS research program has produced a long-run dataset that complements its existing work on monetary stability and central-bank policy. The study sits alongside a parallel BIS paper that separately examines the institutional foundations of money and treats digital assets such as Bitcoin as a contrasting category.
Finance teams with multi-year contracts denominated in foreign currencies should review redenomination and discontinuation clauses against the historical base rate. Treasury functions can use the database as one input when setting currency-hedging policy, with specific terms routed to qualified counsel or an accountant.
The takeaway
The study's central lesson is that currency continuity is not guaranteed over operating horizons longer than a few decades. Operators should check whether existing supplier and customer contracts specify the currency and fallback terms if that currency is discontinued.
Further reading
For broader context on how currency stability shapes lending and payments, explore Financial Services.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Crypto Briefing.
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