2023 Q4 Year-End Review of Global Base Money
According to research by Porkopolis Economics, Bitcoin is now 7th largest base money in the world.
- "Time for the 2023 year-end review on global base money. This is the only money supply that's economically, legally, and accounting-wise comparable with 21 million Bitcoin. This money is ultimate settlement," announced Matthew Mezinskis.
- "World base money is $27.8 trillion equivalent. This means all physical cash & coin, and all bank reserves ('accounts') at central banks, total $27.8 trillion. The top five currencies in the world make up 82% of this..."
- "Here's how the top five look over time, since 1969. Note that data on China begins only in 1999."
- "Note that the picture changes if we remove China from the top five, replace it with Switzerland, and then analyze things across these top five 'liberal blocs' in the world. A privileged 11% live in these nations."
- "Now for how this bloc looks across time, back to the end of the modern gold standard at the beginning of the 1970s..."
- "We can map out this basic money across the world. The totals for the eurozone nations (those using the euro) are disaggregated here, but together the bloc is the second largest money supply in the world."
- "Now for monetary inflation; or, in the classic sense, the 'growth in the stock' of base money. Though central banks have indeed been shrinking the money supply (which causes a rise in interest rates), over the last year, the global stock of money still increased 2.6%."
- "However, if you want to understand the long-term trends of money printing, you need to measure the all-time growth of each currency's stock. That chart is here. See how no money has 'negative growth' under this lens. Due to compounding, it's about 1% per month, worldwide..."
- "Now let's back up and take a look at the top ten fiats, but layer in gold & silver (base money of the past), and Bitcoin (base money of the future). This is the whole enchilada. This is all the settlement money in the world."
- "Notice how there is only one more 'mid-major' currency left in Bitcoin's path, before it gets to the Big Four. That is the pound sterling, and there is about 900 billion of them ($1.15 trillion equivalent) issued and outstanding by the central bank."
- "Here's a table that shows how these assets have progressed over Bitcoin's life. The table only includes the top five currencies, gold, silver, and Bitcoin. Quite remarkable."
- "If your country is not in the top five, here is a detailed table progression of the top 50 currencies in the world, and when Bitcoin passed it...
- "Finally, this is the entire exhibit. For those interested in global macro and money, hopefully it helps you understand the big picture."
- "Much more to come with this research. If you would like to support us, it's greatly appreciated, and any sats you might spare (on-chain or LN) can be contributed here. You can also buy me a coffee here."
- You can follow the discussion on base money on the latest episode of TFTC podcast. For more insights like this, be sure to check out the YouTube channel of Porkopolis Economics.
