Here's the question that periodically comes up in financial discussions: how much money is there in the world actually? The answer depends on how we count. If we only talk about physical cash — banknotes and coins in circulation — that's about 40 trillion dollars. It sounds impressive, but that's only the tip of the iceberg.

When we add demand deposits and easily accessible bank accounts (that is, M1), the total rises to approximately 80 trillion. Here, most of the everyday money flows are already visible. But even this doesn't give a complete picture of how much money is functioning in the world in a broader sense.

If we include savings deposits, bonds, and other liquid assets (M2 and M3), we're already talking about 100–130 trillion dollars. That's a completely different scale. But the financial system is arranged so that the real value of assets people hold — stocks, bonds, derivatives, real estate — reaches 400–500 trillion. And if we consider all complex financial instruments and derivatives, the nominal value can exceed quadrillions.

These figures are constantly changing. Central banks print money, markets fluctuate, and the total amount of money in the world grows or shrinks depending on the economic cycle. Interestingly, even with such a huge volume of traditional finance, virtual assets already account for a significant share — about a third of these global monetary masses. This shows how rapidly the financial landscape is changing.