Bitcoin surpasses Silver’s market cap, establishing itself as mainstream financial asset Bitcoin surpasses Silver’s market cap, establishing itself as mainstream financial asset
Last week's price surge placed Bitcoin as the eighth-largest asset by market cap globally, larger than silver.
2 min read
Updated: Nov. 18, 2024 at 10:32 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Bitcoin’s (BTC) unprecedented surge past $90,000 has reinforced its growing alignment with mainstream financial assets, according to the latest “Bitfinex Alpha” report.
BTC reached a new all-time high of $93,318, pushing its market capitalization to $1.8 trillion and eclipsing silver’s total market value. This achievement places Bitcoin as the eighth-largest traded asset globally.
The rally through the $90,000 threshold represents a 39.5% gain from its pre-election dip to $66,880. The nine-day climb marks Bitcoin’s largest price surge since January 2021, requiring significantly more capital given its expanded market size. Back then, Bitcoin’s market cap was approximately $450 billion — just a fraction of its current valuation.
Profit-taking has tempered the rally, with $640 million in net outflows recorded over the last two trading days. This has led to a consolidation phase, mirroring patterns seen in traditional financial markets as investors secure gains after sharp upward moves.
Meanwhile, retail activity has also surged, with Bitcoin transactions under $100,000 hitting a three-year high, according to CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju.
However, they remain far below the retail interest seen during the 2021 bull run, when Coinbase’s iOS app hit the top rank on the Apple store. Similarly, google searches also remain well below the levels seen in the last cycle, suggesting that the majority of retail remains sidelined for now.
Heavy ETF inflows
The report also highlighted record-breaking capital inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs, which now hold over 1 million BTC. Analysts anticipate Bitcoin ETFs will surpass the market cap of gold ETFs within two months — five years ahead of initial projections made by experts.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) exemplifies this momentum, recently overtaking the AUM of the firm’s iShares Gold ETF (IAU). Remarkably, IBIT achieved this milestone in under 10 months, a feat that took IAU two decades.
As Bitcoin cements its position as a mainstream asset, its trajectory illustrates growing investor confidence in digital assets as a vital part of the global financial ecosystem.
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Author 
Gino Matos
Gino Matos is a law school graduate and a seasoned journalist with six years of experience in the crypto industry. His expertise primarily focuses on the Brazilian blockchain ecosystem and developments in decentralized finance (DeFi).
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Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
BlackRock
BlackRock, synonymous with global asset management, is an American multinational investment management corporation based in New York City.
Bitfinex
Bitfinex is a digital asset trading platform offering state-of-the-art services for digital currency traders and global liquidity providers.
CryptoQuant
CryptoQuant is a South Korean firm specializing in providing cryptocurrency market analytics and on-chain data to investors and industry participants.
The BlackRock Bitcoin ETF, known as the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), is an investment fund that provides regulated exposure to Bitcoin for investors.