Bitcoin briefly overtook Google’s parent company, Alphabet, to become the 5th largest asset in the world by market cap for the first time, trailing only behind gold, Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia.
This happened on Wednesday morning, when bitcoin’s market cap rose to $1.871 trillion, coinciding with Alphabet’s brief drop to $1.859 trillion following its loss in a legal case related to ad tech practices.
This is a big deal for Bitcoin’s growing role in the global financial system and its growing appeal to retail and institutional investors.
Interestingly, Bitcoin is now worth twice as much as Tesla.
Bitcoin’s recent price move has separated it from traditional tech stocks which have been struggling.
While the Nasdaq 100 dropped 4.5% in April, bitcoin surged 15% and hit $94,000, and at one point even $96,000.
Analysts believe this is a sign of bitcoin “decoupling” from its long-term correlation with U.S. tech stocks.
“This market regime is what Bitcoin was built for,” wrote macro analyst Fejau. “Once the degrossing dust settles, it will be the fastest horse out of the gate.”
Several things are driving bitcoin’s move.
One is renewed investor optimism as U.S.-China trade tensions ease. This is benefiting both tech stocks and digital assets but bitcoin is outpacing the rest.
Technicals also show that bitcoin has broken above key resistance levels which is adding to the bullishness.
Bitcoin has also shown great returns across different timeframes:
- 13.3% in the last week
- 22.1% in the last 14 days
- 16.6% since the beginning of April
While BTC is still 13-16% below its all-time high of $108,786 in January this year, many think another all-time high is near.
Experts believe bitcoin could hit $130,514 by May 1 which would be a 38.3% move from current levels.
Bitcoin has been on a journey from fringe to financial powerhouse for years. Once considered a hobby and experiment, it’s now a mainstream financial asset.
Bitcoin has outperformed tech stocks and, at times, traditional stores of value like gold and silver, and has just surpassed silver in market cap. It’s also passed Amazon and Tesla, showing big changes in the market.
As Bitcoin continues to rise, many think it will go even higher.
Market watchers think it’s only a matter of time for bitcoin to surpass Nvidia, or even Apple and Microsoft to become the second largest asset in the world — just behind gold.
Short-term corrections are expected — some think it will dip below $100,000 by mid-June — but long term the outlook for bitcoin is strong among bulls.
Getting to those heights is a matter of when, not if, and one thing is clear: Bitcoin is now at the top table of global finance.
