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Bitcoin’s price surpassed another major milestone on Friday, with the cryptocurrency’s market value exceeding $ 1 trillion, according to Coindesk.
The digital currency was trading for just under $ 54,000 a currency on Friday, when it reached the new level, and rose to $ 54,880 later in the session, according to Coin Metrics. The price of bitcoin has increased by about 350% in the past six months. Before the recent increase, the digital asset was never traded above $ 20,000.
The change was fueled in part by increased adoption of cryptocurrency by major investors and companies. The oldest bank in the United States, Bank of New York Mellon, announced earlier this month that it was moving into space. Elon Musk’s Tesla converted part of the balance sheet cash into bitcoin earlier this year and said it would start accepting digital tokens as a form of payment.
Bitcoin “started to get so big that it probably creates its own demand, as companies and institutions start making inroads into a field that they wouldn’t have touched a few months earlier,” said Deutsche Bank research strategist Jim Reid in note. “Ironically, it is transforming itself into an asset class with credibility for many as it has recovered so much lately and also as it has gained increasing institutional support.”
The market value is calculated by multiplying the bitcoin price by the number created. While not a perfect comparison, the $ 1 trillion market value would make bitcoin’s value higher than all but a few stocks in the world. Tesla, for example, has a market capitalization of around $ 700 billion, while Apple is valued at more than $ 2 trillion.
Pro-bitcoin investors and entrepreneurs celebrated the milestone on social media.
“White paper at $ 1 trillion. #Bitcoin is eating live gold, “said Cameron Winklevoss of Gemini on Twitter.
“RIP bears,” tweeted Morgan Creek Digital Assets co-founder Anthony Pompliano.
For sure, not everyone on Wall Street is convinced of bitcoin’s future prospects. Citadel Securities founder Ken Griffin said on Friday that he was not interested in cryptocurrencies, while JPMorgan researchers said the bitcoin recovery is unsustainable.