A standard of deferred payment is the accepted way, in a given market, to settle a debt,a unit in which debts are denominated. It is one of the defining functions of money,for example, while the gold standard reigned, gold or any currency convertible to gold at a fixed rate constituted such a standard. As of 2010, the US dollar and the euro are the most generally accepted standards for international settlements.The term "standard of deferred payment" is not as widely used as other terms for functions of money, namely medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account, though it is distinguished in some works.Deferred payment is based on enforceability of debts and rule of law, and is not used or rarely used when debts are unlikely to be collectable. For certain kinds of transactions, gold or diamonds may be preferred as the medium of exchange,there being no recourse in case of counterfeit currency being used,and there is rarely any deferral of payment: if there is, it will most likely be stated in dollars.Historically, there have been many times when creditors have had to hide from debtors to avoid being paid off in near worthless currency, typically following hyper-inflation.