Bitcoin
Bitcoin surged above $107,000 Monday night amid community optimism and much activity around spot $BTC ETFs. IBTimes US

KEY POINTS

  • Bitcoin traded above $107,800 at one point Monday night
  • $BTC now has a market cap of more than $2.1 trillion, while Google and Amazon are at $2.4 trillion
  • Spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to haul in millions, with BlackRock's IBIT still in the lead

Bitcoin has once again defied gravity, surging to the $107,000 highs Monday and pushing it closer to the market capitalization of Google parent, Alphabet, which has held its place in the top ranks of the world's largest assets by market value for a long time.

Data from CoinGecko showed that at one point late Monday night, the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency traded above $107,800, breaking its previous all-time high above $106,000.

The digital currency gained 1.4% in the last 24 hours amid a nearly 10% spike in the last seven days. It bounced back and skyrocketed after plunging at one point below $104,000 earlier Monday.

Bitcoin price early Dec 17 2024
Bitcoin price early Dec. 17, 2024 CoinGecko

Looking Beyond the $BTC Surge

While setting a new all-time high is big news for the cryptocurrency market, the bigger story is Bitcoin's push toward potentially toppling Google in the market cap ranks in the lead-up to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

As of early Tuesday, BTC remains the world's 7th largest asset by market value. However, it has significantly closed in on Google, with a $2.415 trillion market capitalization, and e-commerce behemoth Amazon, whose market cap sits at $2.449 trillion. Bitcoin's market cap is now at a staggering $2.107 trillion, bringing it closer to possibly challenging the other big tech giants after having successfully pushed Meta (Facebook) behind.

Assets market cap early Dec 17 2024
Bitcoin is the world's 7th largest asset by market value, but it is now closer to challenging Alphabet and Amazon. Companies Market Cap

If BTC successfully topples Google and Amazon in the ranks, it will then challenge tech titans NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Apple, which are all within the $3 trillion club.

Bitcoin Takes Crypto to the Top

As the world's largest digital asset by market value continues to fly, it has taken other cryptocurrencies on the ride, including second-best Ethereum (ETH), which gained over 1% in the past day and is trading above $4,000, and the TRON blockchain's TRX, which increased more than 3% in the day.

XRP also climbed nearly 5%, and Binance's BNB saw a slight bump with a 0.4% spike in the last 24 hours.

Other coins that seemed to have been affected by Bitcoin's surge were Hyperliquid (HYPE), Stellar (XLM), LEO Token (LEO), Aptos (APT), and AAVE.

Trading volume around BTC exceeded $85 billion in the last day.

$BTC ETFs Also on a Roll

Bitcoin's new milestone came amid continuing interest in spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Data from Farside Investors showed that on Monday, U.S.-listed BTC ETFs saw total positive flows of $636.9 million following a 11-day positive inflow streak.

Bitcoin ETFs flows Dec 16 2024
U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs flows chart from Nov. 29 through Dec. 16, 2024. Farside Investors

BlackRock's very dominant IBIT continued to lead the pack as Grayscale's GBTC mostly bled throughout the 11-day rally. Fidelity's FBTC followed in IBIT's lead.

Meanwhile, the crypto community has been very optimistic in recent weeks, especially with hopes high for a potential U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve in the works.