From there Bretton Woods II was born, where the dollar still dominates, but in a system that uses mainly "domestic currency." Inside money is made up of rights that are someone else's responsibility, while outside money is the kind of money that is no one's responsibility. In other words, the monetary system has become largely debt-based. So when China has US Treasuries, it's domestic money. When Russia sells US dollars to buy gold, that is foreign money.