Bitcoin Rise Sees Market Cap Cross $1 Trillion

The market capitialisation of bitcoin has reached crossed the $1 trillion dollar threshold for the first time since late 2021.

This is according to CoinMarketCap data, which reported that value of all the bitcoin in circulation, or market capitalisation, on Wednesday rose above $1 trillion.

In addition, bitcoin also broke through the $51,000 level, marking the first time it has hit this price since December 2021.

Market capitalisation

In early January bitcoin had surged above $45,000 (£35,603) for the first time since April 2022.

That surge came amid speculation the US securities regulator would soon approve one or more exchange-traded spot Bitcoin funds.

The US SEC later in January had officially approved the first US-listed exchange traded funds (ETF) to track bitcoin, in what was labelled a watershed moment for the world’s largest cryptocurrency, as well as the broader crypto industry.

Now bitcoin surged to another more than two-year high on Wednesday.

This has pushed its market cap back over $1 trillion, as growing success of US spot bitcoin ETFs turned investor sentiment more positive.

The flagship cryptocurrency rose 5 percent to $51,929.89.

The figure is, however, still far lower than the all-time high of $69,000 it hit in November 2021.

Price increases

The biggest cryptocurrency experienced sharp falls in value at the end of 2022 following the collapse of major crypto firms including FTX and the so-called stablecoin TerraUSD, then rose nearly 160 percent over the course of last year – a pattern typical of the notoriously volatile asset.

Indeed, bitcoin has risen around 20 percent since the start of February, and is already set for its biggest monthly rise since October.

The second-largest token ether, which underpins the ethereum network, was up 4.8 percent at $2,761 – its highest since May 2022.