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- The value of the cryptocurrency market reached $ 1 trillion on Thursday, after Bitcoin reached a record above $ 37,000.
- The entire crypto market is now worth about half of what Apple is and more than the entire Swiss economy.
- The rival token Ethereum reached its highest level in two years, above $ 1,200, while smaller altcoins, including XRP, also skyrocketed.
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The cryptocurrency market is now worth more than $ 1 trillion for the first time, after the bitcoin price rose by 6.7% on Thursday, to a record $ 38,357.66.
Bitcoin, which has risen by almost 400% in the past 12 months, has seen great interest from investors in recent weeks.
The driving force behind the rise is investors’ desire to seek a decentralized alternative asset that is not tied to any central bank, whose shares may devalue a traditional currency, as has been the case with the United States dollar with zero from the Federal Reserve – policy of interest and trillions of dollars in stimulus over the past year.
“With buying interest continuing to drive the market, any setback sales will be seen as another opportunity to enter a market that is currently relentlessly pushing upwards,” said DailyFX strategist Nick Cawley.
“As always with the cryptographic space, care must be taken, especially with volatility at its current extreme level,” he added.
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With a market capitalization of more than $ 1 trillion, cryptocurrencies are now worth almost half as much as Apple, the most valuable company in the world. They are also more valuable than the entire Swiss economy – home to some of the largest financial institutions and the largest coffers of gold in the world.
“Bitcoin has continued to uproot trees, metaphorically speaking, reaching a new record,” said CMC Markets chief strategist Michael Hewson in a daily note.
The greater transparency brought about by the regulation and the increasing depth of the market have helped cryptocurrencies to eliminate part of their old reputation as an asset class full of speculation, questionable market practices and fraud.
Renowned investors like Paul Tudor Jones, Mike Novogratz, Anthony Scaramucci bet on Bitcoin and even crypto-skeptic Ray Dalio said he found it “interesting”. Payment companies like PayPal and Square allow their users to trade cryptocurrencies and an increasing number of fintechs outside the United States are seeing increasing interest from their customer base.
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JPMorgan said on Monday that Bitcoin could reach $ 146,000 if investors adopt it as an alternative safe haven to gold, although it added that such a rally may not be sustainable.
Bitcoin is already the largest cryptocurrency in market value and the most used, with a current value of almost $ 700 billion. Next comes Ethereum, which gained 800% in value last year to a two-year high of $ 1,228 in Thursday on the Coinbase platform. Its market value is about $ 138 billion.
The Ripple Labs XRP has been more fortunate recently. US regulators recently issued a complaint against Ripple, claiming that sales of its XRP token were not legitimate, as it considered the currency to be a bond and not a cryptocurrency.
Having more than doubled in value in just a week in late November, XRP lost almost half its value a month later. Since the beginning of the month, the token has doubled in value again. The last XRP was up almost 30% on the day, around $ 0.328 on the Bitstamp exchange.
Smaller tokens, known as alternative currencies, overcame the Bitcoin and Ethereum rally last year. Litecoin and Cardano, and so-called stablecoins – those backed by traditional currencies – like the Tether, also saw their value soar.
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