The value of the cryptocurrency market topped $1 trillion for the first time on 6 January, according to CoinGecko‘s index of 6,124 assets. The surge was driven by yet another record-high registered by the world’s biggest digital money by market cap, Bitcoin.
Registering a gain of more than 14 percent from a day earlier, according to CoinDesk data, Bitcoin passed the $40,000 mark to peak at $40,324.01 on Thursday afternoon. The movement triggered a spike in the combined market value of all cryptocurrencies up by about 9 percent to $1.05 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.com.
“Crypto investors appear to have got used to the extreme price fluctuations and have so far kept a cool head despite the occasional flash crash,” Milan Cutkovic, market analyst at Axi, was quoted as saying.
He added:
“Fear of missing out is driving this rally, and an increasing number of investors want to jump on the bandwagon before the next major leg higher.”
$SSOK SERIOUSLY...#GOLD #SILVER #CRYPTO #Bitcoin #BTC $BTC #cryptocurrencies #EXCHANGE #TRADING #REVENUES #STOCKS NO BRAINER
— Mike (@crabbermike) January 8, 2021
Bitcoin, which launched in 2009, accounts for a majority of that total with a market capitalisation of about $723 billion.
On Thursday smaller coins also notched gains, as Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, grew by about 2 percent to reach $1,217.45.
XRP climbed more than 20 percent to about 30 cents, according to CoinDesk.
Bitcoin Gains
Bitcoin has been showing record-breaking gains in recent months. According to experts, the cryptocurrency whose value approximately doubled in less than a month has been buoyed by a growing interest in it as a guard against inflation.
Bitcoin could even become an alternative to gold, JPMorgan Chase analysts claim. In that scenario, the price of the cryptocurrency could rise to $146,000.
#gold Gold price smacked down with huge jobs numbers miss and falling $USD. Looks like it’s setting up a possible bullish inverse head and shoulders pattern off support. But who knows with this heavily manipulated metal!? 🤯 pic.twitter.com/pfpYDESEKK
— GoldBelt🤑 (@BeltGold) January 8, 2021
The perceived potential of Bitcoin, that allows person-to-person transactions independent of the banking system, being used more widely as a payment method on platforms of mainstream digital payments firms such as PayPal and Square is also offering the cryptocurrency a boost.
In October 2020 Square purchased $50 million worth of Bitcoin.
So the market doesn't react at all to @MicroStrategy buying $400 million, but @Square, which is run by bitcoin bull @jack , buys 50 million and its a big deal? lol pic.twitter.com/ZwqJ2qYSKv
— notagain (@notusingdrugs) October 8, 2020
