According to data and market trackers, CoinGecko, and Blockfolio, the cryptocurrency market capitalisation reached an all-time high of $2 trillion on Monday, as gains over the last several months drew demand from both institutional and retail investors.
The crypto market cap had reached $2.02 trillion by mid-afternoon. The rally was led by bitcoin, which set its record by holding a $1 trillion market cap for one week. Bitcoin was last up 1.4% at $59,045. Bitcoin has traded in a relatively narrow range since reaching a lifetime high of more than $61,000 in mid-March.
Analysts believe bitcoin will be able to maintain its $1 trillion market cap as long as it remains above $53,000. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up 1.3 percent at $2,103. On Monday, its market capitalization was $244 billion. Last Friday, it reached a new high of $2,144.99. “Momentum and interest have begun to spread beyond bitcoin and ethereum,” said Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at Bitfinex.
In a research report, blockchain data provider Glassnode stated that bitcoin’s holding of the $1 trillion market cap for one week is a “strong vote of confidence for bitcoin and the cryptocurrency asset class as a whole.” It went on to say that on-chain activity is reinforcing bitcoin’s strong position, with a volume equivalent to more than 10% of circulating supply transacting above the $1 trillion mark.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, a $35 billion publicly traded investment vehicle that holds bitcoin, also stated on Monday that it remains committed to converting to an exchange-traded fund. Grayscale stated in a blog post that the timing of its transition would be determined by the regulatory environment. This year, bitcoin has increased by more than 100%, while ethereum has increased by nearly 190%. Both have outperformed traditional asset classes significantly, aided by the entry of mainstream companies and large investors into the cryptocurrency world, such as Tesla Inc and BNY Mellon.
Tesla has announced that it will begin accepting Bitcoin as payment. Tesla has already made a $1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin. Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced late last month that people in the United States can now purchase a Tesla using Bitcoins and that the option to pay with the popular cryptocurrency will be available to people in other countries later this year.
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