coindesk.com
The total market value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is approaching an unprecedented $2 trillion, just a few months after topping $1 trillion for the first time.
As of 16:50 coordinated universal time (12:50 p.m. ET), the 9,115 cryptocurrencies tracked by the website CoinMarketCap.com, had a combined market value of $1.996 trillion, up about 2.6% over the past 24 hours.
The total value of all cryptocurrencies topped $1 trillion in early January, bolstered by a powerful bull market in the 12-year-old bitcoin (BTC) as well as rallies in alternative digital assets including ether (ETH), the native currency of the Ethereum blockchain.
Recent announcements of moves into cryptocurrencies by established financial players like Visa, PayPal, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have strengthened traders’ confidence that the industry is seeing greater mainstream adoption.
Bitcoin’s rally over the past year has been fueled by speculation that the oldest and largest cryptocurrency might be useful for investors as a hedge against inflation, in the wake of trillions of dollars of coronavirus-related stimulus injected into financial markets by governments and central banks.
Ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency, and other digital assets have soared in value partly due to expectations that the tokens can be used in decentralized finance, or DeFi, consisting of automated, blockchain-based software protocols that might someday replace banks and Wall Street trading firms.
More recently, there’s been a surge in interest in non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which are digital tokens representing an interest in unique assets, such as art, collectibles, even sneakers.
The latest leg up for the industry has been powered by the alternative cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin. That’s apparent from a decline in bitcoin’s share of the overall market to about 56% now, from about 70% in early January.
But bitcoin’s sheer size means that its doubling in price this year has played a key role in the overall market’s growth. Bitcoin now has a market value of $1.1 trillion, up from about $580 billion at the start of the year.
