I stopped to think: how much money is there in the world? The answer is more complicated than it seems because "money" can mean different things depending on how you define it.

If we only talk about physical money in circulation, notes and coins themselves, we're talking about around 40 trillion dollars. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

When you include demand deposits, bank accounts, everything you can access quickly, the number rises to about 80 trillion. If we consider savings deposits and other liquid financial assets, then we're talking about 100 to 130 trillion dollars.

Now, if you want to know how much money exists in the world considering stocks, bonds, derivatives, and all kinds of complex financial instruments, then things get serious. The total value of global financial assets comfortably reaches 400 to 500 trillion. And if you count derivatives and these more sophisticated things, the nominal number can surpass quadrillions.

All of this fluctuates constantly. Central banks print money, markets fluctuate, new assets emerge. But the truth is that when you think about how much money there really is in the world, these gigantic numbers put cryptocurrencies into perspective. No matter how much the crypto market has grown, it’s still far from representing even a small fraction of this absurd amount of traditional money circulating out there.