Here's a question I've been pondering for a long time: how much money is there in the world actually? It sounds simple, but when you start digging, you realize it all depends on how you count.

If we talk about physical money — banknotes and coins that you can touch — that's about $40 trillion. It sounds huge, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Things get more interesting from here. If you add bank deposits, accounts from which you can easily withdraw money, the number grows to approximately $80 trillion. This is already M1 in economic terminology. But even that isn't the full picture of how much money is actually circulating in the world.

Now imagine including savings accounts, bonds, and other liquid assets. M2 and M3 figures reach around $100-130 trillion. You start to realize the scale.

But if you want to understand the true size of the financial system, you need to look at stocks, bonds, derivatives — all those complex instruments. So, how much money is there in the world in the form of financial assets? About $400-500 trillion. And if you add derivatives and structured products, the nominal value could even exceed quadrillions.

These numbers are constantly changing. Central banks print money, markets fluctuate, the economy breathes. All of this influences the total amount.

What's interesting is that cryptocurrencies, which many consider something exotic and unreal, already make up a noticeable part of this pie. If crypto reaches one-third of the total money supply, it would be nothing short of revolutionary. It's not there yet, but the trend is definitely there.