The Bitcoin was launched in January 2009 with a vision to upend the global money system. It has been nearly a decade since the release, and the cyber currency and its credibility still remains a subject of debate. To help understand the value of the Bitcoin, HowMuch.net put together a chart to demonstrate the significance of Bitcoin in the world economy.
Despite the hype and excitement, the Bitcoin is far from becoming even relevant to the global economy. The current worth of Bitcoin(BTCUSD) stands at an estimated $41 billion according to the website, and even Bill Gates’ net worth is two times as much as that of Bitcoin.
We can not deny that $41 billion is a significant amount of money for any person but considering the currency’s vision to revolutionize the entire global economy; it is not even remotely close to making a difference.
The chart put together by HowMuch shows the values in the form of bubbles where the largest represents the entire money in the world which makes up a total of $83.6 trillion. The second bubble shows the stocks that are trading across the globe at $66.8 trillion which is more than double the amount of all the physical money in the world. Raul Amoros of HowMuch.net writes, “A run towards or away from stocks would thoroughly deregulate the global economy, and nothing more dramatic than a minus sign in front of that amount would lead to the collapse of global civilization.”
As much as we imagine gold to be highly valuable, its apparent glittery shine is only worth $8.2 trillion. The US dollars in circulation add a $1.5 trillion, and next comes the value of Apple Inc. at $730 billion, followed by Amazon at $402 billion.
All the cryptocurrencies in the world including Litecoin and Monero when put together make up a $100 billion trailed closely by the net worth of Bill Gates at $86 billion, making him the richest person on the planet. Even Google co-founder Larry Page alone is worth as much as the entire Bitcoin spread over the whole world’s cyberspace.
Money is a matter of trust, and the Bitcoin can only become the epitome of the new global economy if it manages to gain the confidence of all people. As of now, the US dollar remains the reserve currency choice for most foreign governments due to its position as the biggest economy in the world.
The rise of cryptocurrencies, the likes of Bitcoin, show that people may be losing faith in conventional measures of money and wealth.