Bitcoin (BTC) Surpasses $68K, Approaching Silver’s $1.38T Market Cap Milestone

• This surge in Bitcoin price is due to the strong performance of Bitcoin ETFs, fueled by significant inflows exceeding $7 billion.
• BlackRock’s IBIT surpassed SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), the largest U.S.-listed gold ETF, in trading volume, despite having one-fifth in AUM.

Earlier today, the Bitcoin (BTC) price rallied to its all-time high surging nearly 10% past $68,500. In the last 24 hours, the Bitcoin trading volumes have skyrocketed by 100% to more than $77.67 billion. With this recent price rally, Bitcoin has extended its weekly gains to more than 20%.

Bitcoin is rapidly ascending as one of the largest global assets, having surpassed the $1.3 trillion market capitalization threshold. Recent data compiled by CompaniesMarketCap indicates that it is now approaching the market cap of silver, which stands at $1.4 trillion. This milestone comes after Bitcoin outpaced the market cap of Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms (META) earlier in this bull run, as per the Crypto News Flash report.

In addition to its impressive market performance, Bitcoin is also outperforming the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index (NDX), as highlighted by Caleb Franzen, founder of Cubic Analytics, in a recent report. Franzen described Bitcoin’s breakout against the NDX, surpassing a key level connecting the highs of the first quarter of 2021 and the last quarter of 2021, as “extremely encouraging”. He further stated that the Bitcoin price will soon enter a new price discovery zone.

#Bitcoin is about to enter price discovery (again) and people are somehow bearish?

couldn't be me.

— Caleb Franzen (@CalebFranzen) March 4, 2024

Bitcoin has achieved a new milestone in terms of market value. According to data from CoinGecko, the market capitalization of Bitcoin has reached $1.35 trillion, surpassing the previous peak of $1.28 trillion recorded in November 2021. This milestone was reached during the height of Bitcoin’s pandemic-era bull run when the token surged to $68,991.85.

Despite the increase in Bitcoin’s supply since then, its market capitalization has continued to rise, reaching new heights amid the latest rally in the oldest cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin ETF Demand Remains Very Strong

Recent gains in Bitcoin have been fueled by demand from new US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and anticipation of a reduction in the token’s supply growth. ETFs offered by major firms like BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity Investments have seen significant traction since their debut on Jan. 11, attracting over $7 billion in net inflows.

Fidelity had a particularly strong day on Monday, raking in over $400 million, its largest one-day intake yet, while Bitwise also saw notable gains. The influx of funds from these ETFs is contributing to the overall growth in assets under management (AUM). With the ongoing rally, the total AUM of these ETFs is likely to surpass $50 billion soon, marking a significant milestone in less than two months and positioning them as formidable contenders against gold ETFs.

Record day for Fidelity today: US$404.6 million of inflow

Fidelity has more than offset the GBTC outflow on its own https://t.co/cr320pbObf pic.twitter.com/ellb4qUoNK

— Farside Investors (@FarsideUK) March 5, 2024

Before the session’s close, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) exceeded $2.1 billion in trading volume. BlackRock’s IBIT product has already overtaken Silver Trust, as per the Crypto News Flash report.  Despite being only fifth in size by assets under management (AUM), IBIT outpaced SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), the largest U.S.-listed gold ETF, becoming the seventh most-traded ETF of the day.

However, as per the Crypto News Flash report, some market analysts believe that this is just the beginning of a massive wave that’s yet to come for BTC ETFs.