The Bitcoin economy, in perspective

The total amount of money in the world is $84 trillion. But that includes money in the bank. In physical coins and notes, the total global money supply is only $31 trillion. Hence, the rise of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency that refuses to die. Its demise has been predicted numerous times, and one expert calculated that its value is 18 times more volatile than the US dollar. Yet the virtual money keeps going from strength to strength.

Last year, bitcoin became more stable than gold, and earlier this year, the price of a bitcoin surpassed that of an ounce of gold for the first time.

Currently, all the bitcoin in the world is worth $41 billion. If that amount is hard to grasp, just think of it as one Larry Page – because $41 billion also happens to be the net worth of the guy who co-founded Google with Sergey Brin.