As the fifth-largest asset in the world, Bitcoin recently surpassed Amazon in terms of market cap. Bitcoin’s price reached a new record of $122,600 on Monday, taking its overall market capitalization to $2.4 trillion, which is just higher than Amazon’s $2.3 trillion, silver’s $2.2 trillion, and Alphabet’s $2.19 trillion.
Institutional interest has fueled this rally, especially from the U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced net inflows of over $1 billion in the week from October 6 to 13, as per data from Farside Investors. This marks the seventh consecutive day of positive investment momentum for Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
ETF inflows have significantly boosted the momentum of Bitcoin, specifically the recent one. Earlier this year, ETFs contributed to 75% of new Bitcoin investments within a two-week timeframe, propelling the asset above $50k. Now changing hands for more than $122,000, Bitcoin is getting close to Apple’s value, $730 million away.
Enmanuel Cardozo from the real-world asset tokenization platform Brickken believes that the surge has made Bitcoin more credible. He stated that “With companies like MicroStrategy and BlackRock continuously putting their bets on Bitcoin, we can glean that the asset class is no longer in question.” If it continues at the same trend, Cardozo thinks Bitcoin may also replace Apple and Microsoft, with future prices of $142,000 and $167,000, respectively.
Meanwhile, corporate adoption is on the rise. The number of companies that hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets has risen from 124 last month to 265 and is still growing. Publicly listed companies currently hold 853,000 BTC (4% of total supply), and spot Bitcoin ETFs hold over 1.4 million BTC (around 6.6% of all Bitcoin in circulation).
The United States is also seeing a push called “Crypto Week” for lawmakers to work on three related bills that would change the industry.
- The GENIUS Act to foster stablecoin innovation.
- The CLARITY Act to regulate digital asset markets.
- We should prevent the development of a centralized digital currency (CBDC) in the United States.
If passed, these laws would drive adoption and improve Bitcoin’s position in financial markets.
Conclusion
Bitcoin’s rise to become the fifth biggest asset in the world has great implications in the finance world.
With more institutions making investments, the demand for ETFs is rising, and regulation is improving. Bitcoin is changing from a speculative asset to a finance tool. The rise of Bitcoin may just be getting started with Apple and Microsoft next to invest.
