Module 01 · Sankey

The Firehose

An animated flow of every Fed-created dollar from 2003 to today — source, holding, destination.

Source: FRED · WALCL, TOTRESNS, RRPONTSYD, WTREGEN, CURRSL, MMMFFAQ027S, WRMFNS·As of Apr 2026

Fed dollar flows · 2026-04

$6.71T total

Apr 2026

Dec 2002Apr 2026

Three columns: Fed Balance Sheet → where dollars sit → what asset class backs them. Holding-to-destination ratios are documented constants (see methodology). As of Apr 2026.

Data table (for screen readers and reference)

Showing the most recent 200 rows of 281 total. See the methodology page for the full underlying series.

The Firehose — period-end snapshots, $T. As of 2026-04-24.WALCL is the Fed balance sheet total; remaining columns are holdings ($T) totals from H.4.1 components.
Date	WALCL ($T)	Bank Reserves	Reverse Repo	Treasury General Acct	Currency in Circ.
2009-09-01	2.141	0.000	0.013	0.020	0.445
2009-10-01	2.162	0.001	0.013	0.022	0.439
2009-11-01	2.206	0.001	0.013	0.014	0.457
2009-12-01	2.234	0.001	0.000	0.063	0.460
2010-01-01	2.247	0.001	0.000	0.076	0.487
2010-02-01	2.286	0.001	0.000	0.019	0.513
2010-03-01	2.307	0.001	0.000	0.022	0.532
2010-04-01	2.330	0.001	0.000	0.036	0.545
2010-05-01	2.334	0.001	0.000	0.016	0.552
2010-06-01	2.331	0.001	0.000	0.025	0.555
2010-07-01	2.325	0.001	0.000	0.026	0.554
2010-08-01	2.301	0.001	0.000	0.012	0.561
2010-09-01	2.299	0.001	0.000	0.036	0.561
2010-10-01	2.295	0.001	0.000	0.022	0.523
2010-11-01	2.346	0.001	0.000	0.017	0.540
2010-12-01	2.421	0.001	0.000	0.052	0.546
2011-01-01	2.444	0.001	0.000	0.056	0.566
2011-02-01	2.533	0.001	0.000	0.026	0.601
2011-03-01	2.623	0.001	0.001	0.039	0.619
2011-04-01	2.691	0.001	0.001	0.070	0.639
2011-05-01	2.775	0.001	0.001	0.059	0.672
2011-06-01	2.865	0.001	0.001	0.077	0.691
2011-07-01	2.864	0.001	0.001	0.056	0.708
2011-08-01	2.854	0.001	0.000	0.015	0.708
2011-09-01	2.851	0.001	0.000	0.040	0.709
2011-10-01	2.846	0.001	0.000	0.046	0.702
2011-11-01	2.814	0.001	0.000	0.031	0.705
2011-12-01	2.926	0.001	0.000	0.071	0.720
2012-01-01	2.920	0.001	0.000	0.082	0.739
2012-02-01	2.926	0.001	0.000	0.030	0.767
2012-03-01	2.878	0.001	0.001	0.061	0.753
2012-04-01	2.867	0.001	0.001	0.058	0.760
2012-05-01	2.843	0.001	0.001	0.050	0.761
2012-06-01	2.864	0.001	0.001	0.094	0.760
2012-07-01	2.847	0.001	0.001	0.033	0.757
2012-08-01	2.813	0.001	0.001	0.018	0.751
2012-09-01	2.804	0.001	0.000	0.051	0.744
2012-10-01	2.823	0.001	0.000	0.037	0.736
2012-11-01	2.851	0.001	0.001	0.019	0.740
2012-12-01	2.907	0.001	0.001	0.037	0.732
2013-01-01	3.009	0.001	0.001	0.052	0.804
2013-02-01	3.091	0.001	0.001	0.033	0.844
2013-03-01	3.202	0.001	0.001	0.054	0.870
2013-04-01	3.319	0.002	0.001	0.103	0.888
2013-05-01	3.385	0.002	0.001	0.011	0.946
2013-06-01	3.479	0.002	0.001	0.081	0.938
2013-07-01	3.572	0.002	0.001	0.051	0.962
2013-08-01	3.644	0.002	0.004	0.032	0.982
2013-09-01	3.734	0.002	0.051	0.039	0.999
2013-10-01	3.843	0.002	0.013	0.029	1.042
2013-11-01	3.926	0.002	0.020	0.050	1.068
2013-12-01	4.033	0.002	0.176	0.088	1.036
2014-01-01	4.102	0.002	0.096	0.084	1.096
2014-02-01	4.160	0.003	0.110	0.045	1.127
2014-03-01	4.227	0.003	0.227	0.096	1.116
2014-04-01	4.296	0.003	0.203	0.082	1.166
2014-05-01	4.323	0.003	0.165	0.034	1.205
2014-06-01	4.368	0.003	0.327	0.103	1.168
2014-07-01	4.407	0.003	0.156	0.062	1.218
2014-08-01	4.414	0.003	0.172	0.040	1.218
2014-09-01	4.459	0.003	0.290	0.111	1.187
2014-10-01	4.487	0.003	0.181	0.115	1.199
2014-11-01	4.486	0.003	0.173	0.079	1.235
2014-12-01	4.498	0.003	0.165	0.185	1.205
2015-01-01	4.500	0.003	0.184	0.194	1.222
2015-02-01	4.487	0.003	0.155	0.068	1.277
2015-03-01	4.481	0.003	0.200	0.085	1.269
2015-04-01	4.471	0.003	0.127	0.214	1.251
2015-05-01	4.464	0.003	0.156	0.171	1.259
2015-06-01	4.495	0.003	0.185	0.230	1.241
2015-07-01	4.485	0.003	0.127	0.190	1.255
2015-08-01	4.475	0.003	0.144	0.123	1.256
2015-09-01	4.484	0.003	0.188	0.137	1.242
2015-10-01	4.489	0.003	0.216	0.045	1.271
2015-11-01	4.477	0.003	0.131	0.154	1.254
2015-12-01	4.487	0.002	0.393	0.240	1.109
2016-01-01	4.482	0.002	0.105	0.315	1.239
2016-02-01	4.490	0.002	0.089	0.226	1.288
2016-03-01	4.483	0.002	0.278	0.260	1.245
2016-04-01	4.475	0.002	0.062	0.326	1.289
2016-05-01	4.461	0.002	0.098	0.256	1.311
2016-06-01	4.466	0.002	0.255	0.309	1.266
2016-07-01	4.464	0.002	0.103	0.305	1.299
2016-08-01	4.458	0.002	0.164	0.262	1.332
2016-09-01	4.452	0.002	0.372	0.317	1.261
2016-10-01	4.454	0.002	0.191	0.382	1.250
2016-11-01	4.446	0.002	0.182	0.357	1.234
2016-12-01	4.451	0.002	0.389	0.316	1.180
2017-01-01	4.453	0.002	0.163	0.353	1.291
2017-02-01	4.469	0.002	0.189	0.239	1.331
2017-03-01	4.470	0.002	0.322	0.060	1.346
2017-04-01	4.470	0.002	0.170	0.219	1.369
2017-05-01	4.460	0.002	0.240	0.160	1.377
2017-06-01	4.463	0.002	0.361	0.189	1.336
2017-07-01	4.465	0.002	0.186	0.174	1.349
2017-08-01	4.452	0.002	0.196	0.056	1.369
2017-09-01	4.456	0.002	0.277	0.144	1.314
2017-10-01	4.461	0.002	0.155	0.175	1.346
2017-11-01	4.439	0.002	0.092	0.154	1.358
2017-12-01	4.449	0.002	0.270	0.161	1.288
2018-01-01	4.419	0.002	0.059	0.242	1.373
2018-02-01	4.393	0.002	0.040	0.181	1.379
2018-03-01	4.392	0.002	0.016	0.279	1.359
2018-04-01	4.373	0.002	0.012	0.313	1.358
2018-05-01	4.328	0.002	0.018	0.278	1.341
2018-06-01	4.305	0.002	0.080	0.308	1.303
2018-07-01	4.278	0.002	0.008	0.293	1.335
2018-08-01	4.219	0.002	0.000	0.281	1.312
2018-09-01	4.193	0.002	0.039	0.295	1.281
2018-10-01	4.140	0.001	0.004	0.293	1.264
2018-11-01	4.097	0.001	0.002	0.262	1.247
2018-12-01	4.076	0.001	0.030	0.271	1.179
2019-01-01	4.040	0.001	0.001	0.295	1.193
2019-02-01	3.975	0.001	0.002	0.226	1.188
2019-03-01	3.956	0.001	0.001	0.223	1.176
2019-04-01	3.928	0.001	0.000	0.264	1.149
2019-05-01	3.851	0.001	0.001	0.172	1.144
2019-06-01	3.827	0.001	0.030	0.169	1.128
2019-07-01	3.779	0.001	0.005	0.109	1.109
2019-08-01	3.760	0.001	0.008	0.096	1.098
2019-09-01	3.858	0.001	0.005	0.202	1.083
2019-10-01	4.020	0.001	0.002	0.257	1.118
2019-11-01	4.053	0.001	0.000	0.240	1.134
2019-12-01	4.166	0.001	0.043	0.246	1.143
2020-01-01	4.152	0.001	0.003	0.261	1.037
2020-02-01	4.159	0.001	0.001	0.266	1.043
2020-03-01	5.254	0.001	0.200	0.274	1.225
2020-04-01	6.656	0.002	0.002	0.844	1.506
2020-05-01	7.097	0.003	0.001	1.114	1.546
2020-06-01	7.082	0.003	0.001	1.337	1.525
2020-07-01	6.949	0.002	0.000	1.477	1.531
2020-08-01	6.990	0.002	0.000	1.365	1.607
2020-09-01	7.056	0.002	0.001	1.425	1.637
2020-10-01	7.146	0.002	0.000	1.431	1.656
2020-11-01	7.216	0.003	0.000	1.327	1.714
2020-12-01	7.363	0.003	0.009	1.410	1.748
2021-01-01	7.405	0.003	0.006	1.404	1.714
2021-02-01	7.590	0.003	0.010	1.368	1.794
2021-03-01	7.689	0.004	0.129	0.984	1.937
2021-04-01	7.781	0.004	0.173	0.916	1.940
2021-05-01	7.904	0.004	0.459	0.778	1.974
2021-06-01	8.079	0.004	0.923	0.694	1.931
2021-07-01	8.221	0.004	0.979	0.545	1.964
2021-08-01	8.333	0.004	1.155	0.293	2.031
2021-09-01	8.448	0.004	1.520	0.187	1.989
2021-10-01	8.556	0.004	1.423	0.202	1.997
2021-11-01	8.682	0.004	1.463	0.158	2.041
2021-12-01	8.757	0.004	1.741	0.194	1.946
2022-01-01	8.860	0.004	1.543	0.573	1.995
2022-02-01	8.928	0.004	1.502	0.657	2.024
2022-03-01	8.937	0.004	1.728	0.531	1.998
2022-04-01	8.939	0.003	1.695	0.839	1.928
2022-05-01	8.914	0.003	1.761	0.731	1.935
2022-06-01	8.914	0.003	1.999	0.649	1.869
2022-07-01	8.890	0.003	2.010	0.527	1.907
2022-08-01	8.826	0.003	1.950	0.531	1.893
2022-09-01	8.796	0.003	2.017	0.573	1.821
2022-10-01	8.723	0.003	1.921	0.536	1.855
2022-11-01	8.585	0.003	1.781	0.430	1.854
2022-12-01	8.551	0.002	2.028	0.340	1.753
2023-01-01	8.471	0.002	1.669	0.398	1.791
2023-02-01	8.382	0.002	1.705	0.372	1.728
2023-03-01	8.706	0.003	1.892	0.146	1.770
2023-04-01	8.563	0.003	1.850	0.232	1.772
2023-05-01	8.386	0.003	1.770	0.038	1.757
2023-06-01	8.341	0.002	1.554	0.298	1.716
2023-07-01	8.243	0.002	1.396	0.417	1.720
2023-08-01	8.121	0.002	1.256	0.358	1.706
2023-09-01	8.002	0.002	1.141	0.499	1.642
2023-10-01	7.908	0.002	0.851	0.624	1.675
2023-11-01	7.796	0.003	0.665	0.554	1.681
2023-12-01	7.713	0.003	0.739	0.530	1.629
2024-01-01	7.630	0.003	0.462	0.632	1.692
2024-02-01	7.568	0.003	0.377	0.590	1.693
2024-03-01	7.485	0.003	0.432	0.583	1.640
2024-04-01	7.402	0.002	0.385	0.678	1.624
2024-05-01	7.284	0.002	0.319	0.511	1.638
2024-06-01	7.231	0.002	0.463	0.533	1.573
2024-07-01	7.178	0.002	0.288	0.548	1.574
2024-08-01	7.123	0.002	0.297	0.512	1.554
2024-09-01	7.080	0.002	0.312	0.540	1.518
2024-10-01	7.013	0.002	0.134	0.555	1.510
2024-11-01	6.905	0.002	0.128	0.504	1.477
2024-12-01	6.886	0.002	0.296	0.478	1.422
2025-01-01	6.818	0.002	0.120	0.502	1.457
2025-02-01	6.766	0.002	0.149	0.432	1.446
2025-03-01	6.740	0.002	0.252	0.227	1.441
2025-04-01	6.709	0.002	0.158	0.376	1.446
2025-05-01	6.673	0.002	0.199	0.294	1.444
2025-06-01	6.662	0.002	0.287	0.227	1.432
2025-07-01	6.643	0.002	0.133	0.231	1.438
2025-08-01	6.603	0.002	0.047	0.358	1.408
2025-09-01	6.608	0.002	0.029	0.480	1.386
2025-10-01	6.587	0.002	0.030	0.547	1.332
2025-11-01	6.552	0.002	0.004	0.512	1.324
2025-12-01	6.641	0.002	0.060	0.474	1.325
2026-01-01	6.588	0.002	0.005	0.517	1.316
2026-02-01	6.614	0.002	0.009	0.499	1.324
2026-03-01	6.657	0.002	0.009	0.497	1.339
2026-04-01	6.707	0.002	0.000	0.584	1.368

How to read this

Three columns. Source on the left is the Fed’s balance sheet (WALCL) — the total dollar pool the central bank is responsible for. Holding in the middle is where those dollars actually sit on a Tuesday afternoon: in bank reserves, overnight reverse repo, the Treasury’s checking account, your wallet, money funds (when reported), and an “Other” residual that captures MBS, agency debt, swap lines, and Fed capital. Destination on the right is the asset class those holdings ultimately back: Treasuries (domestic) and Cash & Equivalents. Drag the scrubber. Press play. Watch QE happen.

We deliberately do not render Equities or Foreign Holdings as destinations here — those flows aren’t mass-balanced from the Fed’s balance sheet, so plotting them as Sankey bands would misrepresent the math. For a holder-level Treasuries breakdown (including foreign), see the Treasury Holders chart; for the equities-vs-money-supply story, see M2 / S&P 500 Race.

What this is showing right now

As of Apr 2026

The Fed’s balance sheet stands at $6.71T (WALCL), -0.0% year-over-year and -25.0% from the Apr 2022 peak of $8.94T. Money Market Funds is the largest known holding at $4.75T (71% of WALCL). Routed through the stylized destination splits, $3.91T backstops Treasuries and $2.80T sits in cash equivalents.

Money Market Funds$4.75T
Currency in Circ.$1.37T
Treasury General Acct$584B
Bank Reserves$2B
Reverse Repo$0B
Other Liabilities$0B

Treasuries$3.91T
Cash & Equivalents$2.80T

Historical context

In early 2003 the Fed’s balance sheet was a small, boring instrument — under a trillion dollars, dominated by currency in circulation. Bank reserves were a rounding error. The reverse repo facility was new and tiny. The Treasury kept a thin checking account at the Fed because it banked at commercial banks for operations.

Then Lehman fell. QE1 in November 2008 added Treasuries and MBS to the asset side of WALCL on a scale the Fed had never attempted, and the corresponding liability — bank reserves — exploded by roughly an order of magnitude. QE2 (2010), Operation Twist (2011), and QE3 (2012) kept piling on. Then came the brief, awkward 2017–2019 attempt to shrink it (QT1), interrupted by the September 2019 repo blow-up.

COVID rewrote the chart. From March 2020 the Fed bought roughly $3T of assets in nine months. The Treasury simultaneously parked unprecedented sums in the TGA — the spike you can see around mid-2020 and again during the 2023 debt-ceiling refill. RRP absorbed the resulting cash glut at money market funds, peaking above $2.5T in late 2022. QT2 began in June 2022; SVB triggered an emergency BTFP-shaped backstop in March 2023; the August 2024 yen unwind reminded everyone that even ample reserves don’t anchor confidence.

What you’re scrubbing through is two decades of monetary policy made visible as flowing pipes. The shape of the chart in 2008 vs 2014 vs 2022 is the entire post-crisis monetary regime in one frame.

Destinations & methodology

Treasuries — US Treasury debt held domestically (Fed SOMA + banks + public). RRP, TGA and the 'Other' residual flow here, plus a portfolio share of bank reserves and money-fund assets.
Cash & Equivalents — Bank deposits + currency + reserve balances backing dollar transactions and savings. Bank Reserves, Currency in Circulation, and a share of MMF assets flow here.

Splits per holding: RRP and TGA route 100% to Treasuries; Bank Reserves and Currency route 100% to Cash; Money Funds split 70/30 Treasuries/Cash; the WALCL residual (“Other”) routes 100% to Treasuries because the largest unmodeled Fed liabilities (MBS, agency debt, SOMA Treasuries) are Treasury-adjacent.

Money-fund construction. The MMF holding is built from two FRED series. The total level is anchored to the quarterly Z.1 print (MMMFFAQ027S, end-of-period, ~$7T total). Within each quarter the value is interpolated by the weekly H.6 Retail Money Funds proxy (WRMFNS, NSA, billions): mmf_m = Z.1_anchor × WRMFNS_m ÷ WRMFNS_anchor. The ratio leaves the Z.1 anchor untouched at quarter-end while letting the slice move week-to-week through episodes like the 2022 RRP run-up and the 2023 SVB period that a quarterly-only series would silently flatten.

Sources

FRED · WALCL — Fed Total Assets (Source node, mass-balance anchor)
FRED · TOTRESNS — Reserves at Fed. Reserve balances commercial banks hold at the Fed. Pure cash equivalent — earns IORB.
FRED · RRPONTSYD — Overnight Reverse Repo. Overnight Reverse Repo. MMFs and dealers park cash at the Fed against Treasury collateral.
FRED · WTREGEN — Treasury General Account. Treasury General Account at the Fed — Treasury's checking account.
FRED · CURRSL — Currency in Circulation. Physical Federal Reserve notes plus coin in circulation.
FRED · MMMFFAQ027S — MMF Total Assets. Money Market Fund total assets. The level is anchored to the quarterly Z.1 print (FRED MMMFFAQ027S) and interpolated within each quarter using the weekly H.6 Retail Money Funds proxy (FRED WRMFNS), so the slice moves between Z.1 prints (notably the 2022 RRP run-up and the 2023 SVB period) instead of stepping once a quarter. Predominantly Treasury bills and repo. Tracked outside the Fed balance sheet itself; if the sum of explicit holdings exceeds WALCL we proportionally rescale all known holdings so the Source column never visually overruns.
Other Liabilities — derived as WALCL minus the sum of explicit holdings. Residual = WALCL − sum of explicit holdings. Captures MBS, agency debt, swap lines, capital, and other Fed liabilities not separately modeled. By construction this closes the WALCL mass balance.