Money plays a key role in capitalism. Therefore, its management is faced with demanding requirements. Current institutional arrangements supporting money derive from an implicit contract between the state, private property holders and citizens that goes back to the founding of the Bank of England around 1700. The current monetary system gains its flexibility and durability by drawing on elements from opposing camps in theoretical debates on the nature of money and its optimal governance. As a result, it provides a hierarchical architecture that enables it to make substantial claims on input and output legitimacy.