This private sector money dwarfs the amount of public sector money – i.e. cash – in circulation. In November 2017, euro notes and coins in circulation amounted to € trillion, compared with the € trillion deposited by euro area residents with MFIs.
Certainly this private sector money acts as an effective medium of exchange and, a few episodes aside, as an effective store of value. But such private sector money is not truly independent; it shares its unit of account with the official currency.