Market Cap for Cryptocurrencies reaches 2 trillion mark

The cryptocurrency market cap hit an all-time high of $ 2 trillion on Monday, according to data and market trackers CoinGecko and Blockfolio, as gains in recent months attracted demand from institutional and retail investors. In the afternoon, the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies was $ 2.02 trillion. The surge was led by Bitcoin, which hit its own milestone by holding a market cap of $ 1 trillion for a week. Bitcoin was last up 1.4% at $ 59,045. Bitcoin has been trading in a relatively tight range since hitting its high of more than $ 61,000 in mid-March. Analysts said as long as bitcoin stays above $ 53,000 it will be able to hold its $ 1 trillion market cap. Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, rose 1.3% to $ 2,103. Its market capitalization as of Monday was $ 244 billion. It hit a record high of $ 2,144.99 last Friday. "Momentum and interest have started to expand beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum," said Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at Bitfinex crypto exchange. "As the industry matures, we expect more blockchain-based applications to be introduced to the world, and with that, an increase in interest in other alternative assets ... as they become more marketable," he added. Blockchain data provider Glassnode said in a research report that the fact that bitcoin held its market cap of $ 1 trillion for a week is a "strong vote of confidence in bitcoin and the cryptocurrency asset class as a whole." It added that on-chain activity continues to strengthen bitcoin's robust position, with a volume equal to more than 10% of circulating supplies transacting above the $ 1 trillion threshold. Also on Monday, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, a $ 35 billion listed investment vehicle that holds bitcoin, said it remains committed to converting it into an exchange traded fund. In a blog post, Grayscale said the timing of the transition would depend on the regulatory environment. Bitcoin has risen more than 100% this year, while Ethereum has gained nearly 190%. Both have massively outperformed traditional asset classes, helped by the entry of mainstream companies and major investors into the cryptocurrency world, including Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) Inc and BNY Mellon (NYSE: BK).