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by cs702 3133 days ago

  Current market capitalization in US dollars:
  
  Global M2 money supply                  over $90.0 trillion [a]
  US dollar M2 money supply                    $13.8 trillion [b]
  Euro M2 money supply                         $13.2 trillion [c]
  All coins and banknotes in circulation        $7.6 trillion [d]
  All gold ever mined                           $7.1 trillion [e]
  Bitcoin                                 under $0.2 trillion [f]
The world needs these money-like assets to function everyday. Otherwise, the global economy would ground to a halt.

Bitcoin has very different, unique characteristics compared to the other money-like assets on the list. For example, like gold, Bitcoin's continued existence doesn't depend on the good management of any national economy; however, unlike gold, bitcoins are digital so they can be encrypted, backed up, emailed, etc. Bitcoin is truly a new kind of money-like asset.

The trillion-dollar question is, to what extent does the world need a money-like asset with Bitcoin's unique characteristics to function in the 21st century?

[a] http://money.visualcapitalist.com/worlds-money-markets-one-v...

[b] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M2

[c] http://sdw.ecb.europa.eu/reports.do?node=1000003501

[d] http://money.visualcapitalist.com/worlds-money-markets-one-v...

[e] https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/17/how-does-bitcoins-...

[f] https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/