LIQUID STATE · tools · us m2 money supply

US M2 Money Supply — The Liquidity Backdrop

Every risk asset trades against the backdrop of how much money exists. This page charts the full M2 history since 1959 — the level, the year-over-year liquidity impulse, and how each decade compares — straight from the St. Louis Fed. Information, not financial advice.

M2 Money SupplyLiquidity expanding — accelerating
$23.05T
Latest print 2026-05
YoY Growth
+5.58%
The liquidity impulse
3M Annualized
+7.74%
Freshest re-acceleration read
MoM Change
+1.09%
Latest monthly print
1Y Change
$1.22T
Dollars added over 12 months
M2 Money Stock — Last 10Y · $ trillions
Liquidity Impulse — YoY M2 Growth
now +5.58%

Above the dotted 0% line the money supply is growing; below it, contracting. The 2020 surge (peak >25% YoY) and the 2022–23 contraction — the only negative stretch in this series's modern history — bracket the range.

M2 by Decade — how fast money grew
DecadeStartEndGrowth
1960s$298B$588B+97.2%
1970s$590B$1.47T+150.0%
1980s$1.48T$3.15T+112.6%
1990s$3.17T$4.64T+46.5%
2000s$4.67T$8.51T+82.4%
2010s$8.48T$15.35T+81.0%
2020s$15.43T$23.05T+49.4%
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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the M2 money supply?
M2 is the Federal Reserve’s broad measure of the US money supply: physical currency, checking deposits, savings deposits, money-market funds, and small time deposits. It is the most-watched gauge of how much liquidity exists in the US financial system. This page charts the seasonally adjusted monthly series (FRED: M2SL) back to 1959.
Why do crypto traders watch M2?
Risk assets, including Bitcoin, have historically been sensitive to changes in the pace of money-supply growth. The 2020 M2 surge coincided with a broad asset-price expansion, and the 2022–2023 contraction — the first meaningful M2 decline in decades — coincided with a deep drawdown across risk assets. Traders track the year-over-year growth rate (the “liquidity impulse”) rather than the level itself.
What does the liquidity impulse chart show?
It plots year-over-year M2 growth. Above 0% the money supply is expanding; below 0% it is contracting. The steepness of the line matters as much as the sign — accelerating growth has historically been the most supportive backdrop for risk assets, decelerating or negative growth the least. This is a descriptive historical read, not a forecast.
Where does the data come from and how often does it update?
Directly from the St. Louis Fed’s FRED API (series M2SL, monthly, seasonally adjusted, in billions of dollars). The Fed publishes M2 with roughly a one-month lag; this page refreshes twice a day. Figures are informational only and not financial advice.
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Data: St. Louis Fed FRED (M2SL, monthly, seasonally adjusted). Figures are informational only and do not constitute financial advice. Liquid State · crypto market intelligence.