That was my conclusion - and I found it astonishing.
So, the FDIC is the entity that I depend on if I want to withdraw all my assets (from the bank) in cash?
My thought is...
The FDIC does guarantee the value of your ledger entry against bank failure to an upper limit.
If you have a pile of cash under the bed, it will steadily decrease in real value as it is ravaged by inflation. Also, tomorrow morning, the $ could be devalued and the pile though the same number and denomination of bills would buy you less.