Have you ever stopped to think about how much money is really in the world? Because the answer is quite revealing, especially when you see how it is distributed.

The first thing that surprises is the amount of physical cash in circulation: just 9 trillion dollars in bills and coins. It sounds like a lot, but it’s almost nothing compared to the rest.

Then there are bank deposits, which is where most of the real money is. We’re talking about around 100 trillion in checking accounts and regular deposits, plus another 150 trillion in funds and large deposits. That’s real money that moves.

Now, when you see that there are more than 1 quintillion dollars in global financial assets (stocks, bonds, derivatives, and all that), you have to understand that this is no longer real money, but just numbers on a screen, valuations that go up and down.

So, how much money is really in the world? About 150 trillion dollars. And here’s where it gets interesting: nearly 62 trillion belongs to the United States. China has close to 16 trillion, and Japan around 6.5 trillion. The rest of the planet shares what’s left.

This explains a lot about why it’s said there’s not enough money for Bitcoin to keep growing. Spoiler: there is money, a lot of it. The question is who controls it and where they move it. When you understand these figures, you understand the geopolitical game behind every economic move. And that’s what really matters to follow.