Traditional banks

There are more than 30.000 different banks worldwide, and they hold unbelievable amounts of assets. The top 10 banks alone account for roughly 25 trillion US-Dollars.

Banks are, in essence, in the risk management business. People keep their money in banks and receive a small amount of interest. In turn, the bank takes this money and lends it at much higher interest rates. So banks take funds that savers don't use and turn them into funds society can use to do things like buying houses or growing businesses.