Bitcoin Surges Past Silver, Sets Sights on Gold
As Bitcoin (BTC) broke through its all-time high again and passed the $72,000 price mark, the world’s leading cryptocurrency’s market capitalization of $1.4 trillion now eclipses the global value of silver, making it the eight most valuable tradable asset in the world.
With another sudden jump from $68,000 to over $72,000 in a single day, Bitcoin has passed Meta Platforms in market cap, further fueling the extremely bullish market sentiment and buying frenzy which started shortly after the SEC approved tradable ETFs to track Bitcoin.
More and more experts in recent days have begun comparing Bitcoin to gold, specifically calling the currency “digital gold”, drawing analogy on Bitcoin’s attributes such as limited supply, which mimic gold’s scarcity and investment appeal, but without the physical limitations of the precious metal.
Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy, a company which now holds over 12,000 Bitcoin in its holdings, recently stated in an appearance on CNB that “Bitcoin is competing with gold. It’s going to eat it.” He further added, when comparing the two assets, that Bitcoin has “all of the great attributes of gold, and it’s got none of the defects.”
Still, Bitcoin has a long way to reach gold’s $14.7 trillion market cap, but Saylor believes that the upcoming “halving” event which will happen sometime later next month will once again have a dramatic impact on the price of the cryptocurrency, as the price of Bitcoin’s block reward will be reduced by 50%.
“The price of Bitcoin is going to have to adjust up in order to meet that investor demand.” Saylor said, expecting another massive bull run, as was historically seen in the days and months after a halving event.
In order to outvalue gold, a price of one Bitcoin coin would have to reach at least $720,000, a number which right now seems ludicrous, but could become a reality sometime within the decade, according to some predictions.
What’s quite likely to happen in the very near future is the overtaking of other assets in the top ten list, most notably that of Alphabet (Google) and Amazon, whose market caps are more than within the reach of Bitcoin, if the bullish sentiment continues as expected.
Whether this “digital gold” will ever dethrone actual gold remains to be seen, but the cryptocurrency's trajectory suggests a reshaping of value and investment in the digital age.
I have always thought of myself as a writer, but I began my career as a data operator with a large fintech firm. This position proved invaluable for learning how banks and other financial institutions operate. Daily correspondence with banking experts gave me insight into the systems and policies that power the economy. When I got the chance to translate my experience into words, I gladly joined the smart, enthusiastic Fortunly team.
