The Real Fed Pivot Already Happened — You Just Missed It

Let’s get this out of the way: no, there aren't lines around the block outside JPMorgan or Wells Fargo.

No one’s smashing ATM screens.

No screaming anchors on CNBC.

No bailouts (yet).

And yet…

Over $4 trillion has quietly left the U.S. local banking system since 2022.

That’s not an opinion. That’s not clickbait.

That’s straight from the Fed’s own balance sheet and deposit flow data.

The media calls it “liquidity rotation.”

I call it a slow-motion bank run.

And it might be the most dangerous kind—because it doesn’t feel like a crisis.

What Actually Happened?

Starting in 2022, as the Fed began tightening rates, depositors began shifting money out of traditional checking/savings accounts and into:

• Money market funds

• T-bills

• Treasury-backed ETFs

• Off-balance-sheet yield vaults (for the fintech crowd)

Why? Because banks were still paying 0.4% while the Treasury was offering 5%.

That’s not complicated math.

But what it is… is a vote of no confidence in the entire traditional banking infrastructure.

If This Were Argentina, We’d Call It a Crisis

Imagine if $4 trillion evaporated from any other major country’s banking system.

There would be panic. Capital controls. IMF missions. Street protests.

In the U.S., we just call it “business as usual.”

But the implications are massive:

• Less liquidity for small business lending

• Lower deposit reserves = higher fragility

• And eventually... a credit contraction domino effect most people won't see coming until it's already behind them

This isn’t a panic. It’s a slow exit.

And if you're not watching, there’ll be no liquidity left when the lights go out.

— Death of the Dollar

P.S. If you’d like a broader, news-focused take on the bank run as it develops, check out Afternoon Finance.