According to data from CoinMarketCap, the cryptocurrency market has officially passed the magic milestone of $1 trillion. CoinGecko, another data aggregator, recently made a similar confirmation.
This means: all existing cryptocurrencies have been valued at a total of $1 trillion for the first time. Much of this market capitalisation, $670 billion, currently consists of bitcoin.
Top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation. Data from CryptoSlate
Another large chunk is made up of Ethereum (Go to Buy Ethereum at eToro guide), which recently became one of the top 100 in the world by market cap, with $135 billion circulating.
The rest is made up of altcoins – from big names like USDT from Bitcoin Bank Tether to smaller altcoins, among others from the decentralised finance space.
Do we deserve this?
When Bitcoin, Ethereum and especially altcoins skyrocketed during the bull run in 2017, many questioned whether these valuations were truly deserved.
Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, addressed this with this poignant tweet in 2017.
The market capitalisation of cryptocurrencies is now double what it was at that time – and many say it is doubly deserved.
Bitcoin has seen strong institutional adoption, with many on Wall Street not admitting that the cryptocurrency is a viable investment and a likely alternative to gold. Investors who have admitted as much in recent months include Paul Tudor Jones, Ray Dalio, Stan Druckenmiller and Rick Rieder.
Each of these individuals manages portfolios worth billions of dollars.
Ethereum has also seen strong fundamental trends driving growth recently.
The 2017 rally was based on pure promise, with projects reaching multi-billion dollar valuations due to pure speculation and strong marketing that convinced droves of retail investors to buy.
This rally is based on fundamentals and concrete products. Ethereum, for example, has seen a large influx of users in recent months, as evidenced by the growth of decentralised financial platforms.