Bitcoin’s bull run continues with full force as the asset broke above $71,000 earlier today and tapped a new all-time high at almost $72,000.
This means that its price has gained more than 60% since the start of the year, and its total market cap has soared to over $1.4 trillion for the first time ever. With this, BTC has managed to become the 8th largest financial asset.
BTC Bigger Than Silver
A lot can change in the cryptocurrency markets in a year. It was March 11, 2023, when Bitcoin had fallen back down to $20,000 after failing at $30,000. The doubters were once again bashing it, claiming that it had failed to serve as a hedge against inflation and a financial tool that performs well during uncertain times.
Yet, BTC didn’t stay there for long and started gaining traction in the following months. June arrived, and the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, filed to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF, which became a game-changer.
Being the most powerful financial organization in the world, BlackRock’s involvement turned the tables and the approval of such a product became a must. The hype was real and pushed BTC’s price north. In January 2024, the SEC indeed approved nearly a dozen Bitcoin ETFs and the massive demand for them propelled more price gains for the underlying asset.
This culminated last week when BTC broke its 2021 all-time high for the first time ahead of a halving. The asset kept climbing and soared to almost $72,000 earlier today, which is its highest price tag ever (for now).
Consequently, BTC’s market capitalization has soared to a record of its own at over $1.4 trillion. This means that Bitcoin has become the 8th largest global financial asset, ranking higher than Meta (Facebook) and the second-biggest commodity – silver.
Who’s Next?
When CryptoPotato reported that Bitcoin had entered the top 10 by surpassing Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, the cryptocurrency’s price was hovering around $60,000. Meta and silver were far ahead but it took BTC less than two weeks to surpass them both.
Although the next targets (Alphabet and Amazon) seem quite far as well now, BTC’s price would have to go above $85,000 (20% increase approximately) to go above Google’s parent company and to $94,000 (30%) to surpass Jeff Bezos’ corporate giant.
These numbers seem a bit far-fetched at the moment but recall that Bitcoin has gained more than 60% since the start of 2024 and 40% in the past two weeks alone.
This article first appeared at CryptoPotato