The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies pushed past $2 trillion recording an all-time high, doubling in about two months amid surging demand from both institutional and retail investors, according to data and market trackers CoinGecko and Blockfol.
By mid-afternoon, in New York on Monday, the crypto market cap was at $2.02 trillion.
Of the more than 6,600 coins tracked by CoinGecko, Bitcoin, the largest, is worth more than $1 trillion alone, held that market cap for one week after its price more than doubled in 2021. Bitcoin was last up 1.4% at $59,045 after achieving a lifetime peak of more than $61,000 in mid-March; bitcoin has traded in a relatively narrow range. Analysts believe Bitcoin will maintain its $1 trillion market cap as long as it stays above $53,000.
Bitcoin has been raging forward for the past few months as institutional investors dabble in crypto as a way to boost returns on cash in a world of near-zero interest rates. Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. poured $1 billion of its reserves into Bitcoin and the Bitcoin supporter began accepting it as payment for cars. According to Bloomberg, “Morgan Stanley is allowing some of its wealthiest clients to add the token to their portfolios, while firms from Mastercard Inc. to PayPal Inc. have taken steps to embrace Bitcoin.”
The next five biggest coins — Ether, Binance Coin, Polkadot, Tether, and Cardano — have a combined value of about $422 billion.
Ethereum was up 1.3% at $2,103. Its market cap was $244 billion on Monday. Last Friday, it hit a record high of $2,144.99.
“Momentum and interest have begun to expand beyond bitcoin and ethereum,” said Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at crypto exchange Bitfinex, according to TOI. “As the industry continues to mature, we expect more blockchain-based applications to be introduced to the world, and coinciding with that, a surge of interest around other alternative assets… as they become more market-ready,” he added.
Last week, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase Global Inc., said it’s planning for its shares to start trading later this month on the Nasdaq following a direct listing.
