1.42 trillion dollars

Bitcoin overtakes silver with new all-time high

Bitcoin has gained around 62% against the US dollar since the beginning of the year.

(Bild: ©Open Studio - stock.adobe.com)

The total value of the digital currency Bitcoin exceeded the valuation of all silver holdings worldwide on Monday. According to calculations by the specialist portal "Infinite Market Cap", all bitcoins were worth more than 1.42 trillion US dollars for the first time. The oldest cryptocurrency thus surpassed the total value of silver (1.38 trillion dollars). 

On Monday afternoon, Bitcoin broke through the threshold of 72,000 dollars on the stock exchanges. The rapid rise in the price of Bitcoin in recent months was mainly due to asset managers such as BlackRock, Grayscale and Fidelity, which have launched Bitcoin funds in the USA. These Bitcoin ETFs were approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January. They allow investors to invest in Bitcoin without having to directly purchase or hold the digital currency themselves.

Gold is the world's most valuable asset
Bitcoin's rally began last fall. Since the beginning of the year alone, the digital currency has gained around 62% against the US dollar. Gold tops the list of the most valuable investment products in "Infinite Market Cap". Here, the total global holdings are ten times the value of Bitcoin (14.7 trillion dollars).

Listed companies follow in the ranking: Microsoft is in second place with a market value of 3.02 trillion dollars, followed by Apple (2.64 trillion dollars) and AI chip manufacturer Nvidia (2.19 trillion dollars).

Susceptible to fluctuations
The new all-time high for Bitcoin does not guarantee that the price of Bitcoin will continue to rise steadily in the future. For example, the price plummeted from its former high of around USD 69,000 on November 10, 2021 to below USD 17,000 within a year, partly because the scandal surrounding the criminal activities surrounding the crypto exchange FTX shook investor confidence.

The strong performance of Bitcoin is also likely to have priced in an event that is expected to take place on April 20: the next halving. This will halve the reward that Bitcoin miners receive for verifying crypto transactions. Ultimately, the process leads to a slower growth in the supply of Bitcoin, which has usually resulted in rising prices in the past.