Cryptocurrency market capitalization exceeds $3 trillion for the first time: What is the growth driver

Author

Valery Moiseev

The capitalization of the global cryptocurrency market on the morning of November 8 exceeded $3.0 trillion for the first time. As of 10:30 am Kyiv time, it has grown by 4.2% over the past 24 hours. This data is provided by the platform CoinGecko that monitors 10,446 cryptocurrencies.

The total traded value in cryptocurrencies over the past day amounted to $139.2 billion. Bitcoin accounted for 41.4%, while Ethereum accounted for 18.7%. DeFi and Play to Earn are popular trends in the industry right now.

Over the course of the day, the market value of bitcoin increased by 6.6%. Its price is close to $66,000. It is close to the record of $67,000, set on October 20. The price of the first cryptocurrency is recovering after it dropped below $58,000 on October 28.

The rise in the price of Ethereum also fostered the growth of the cryptocurrency market capitalization. On November 8, it set up its new historical maximum at $4.78 thousand. Over the past 24 hours, the coin went up by 3.8%, and its capitalization increased to $560 billion (Bitcoin capitalization is $1,244 billion).

Among the coins from the group of leaders in terms of capitalization, OKB (15.4%), Avalanche (11.1%), and XRP (9.6%) went up the most in the last 24 hours.

TOP-10 cryptocurrencies in terms of total capitalization

Source: CoinGecko

Why the interest in cryptocurrencies is on the rise

The general reasons for the growth in demand for cryptocurrencies are as follows:

worldwide discontent with the US dollar is growing, including because of its high inflation. Amid the fight against the coronavirus pandemic consequences, the US Federal Reserve "printed" trillions of dollars. The emission of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is mathematically limited;
in the face of pandemic, the investment attractiveness of most traditional assets has decreased;
the investment interest in crypto is supported by a large number of implementation options, a high level of security, no inflation and market regulation by a single center;
the legislation and regulation of cryptoassets are being improved, and that enhances confidence in them;
the same laws and principles apply in the cryptocurrency market as in the stock market, the technical analysis works as well. This allows one to assess risks, choose the right time for transactions and a strategy;
the availability of digital currency is increasing due to the installation of the public terminals for purchasing cryptocurrencies and payments using them;
the world's major online stores have started to accept bitcoins, thereby popularizing cryptocurrency enhancing confidence in it;
services appear that make it easier for the customers to handle cryptoassets;
in many countries, transactions with cryptoassets are not yet taxed, and that increases their profitability;
the complexity of controlling crypto transactions has made cryptocurrencies a popular tool for tax evasion and illegal activities.

What else is fueling the demand for cryptocurrencies

We have given the objective reasons for the growing interest in cryptocurrencies above. But there is one more and very important reason. This is investor psychology.

The outlet Verge notes that because of the pandemic, more and more people are making investments: "Before that, many of them were betting on sports, but now they have lost this opportunity due to the cancellation of matches."

This refers to the mass of the so-called retail unskilled investors. The actions of one such player do not impact the industry in any way, but together they can drive the markets. In this case, the assets "go viral" and quickly grow in value due to the activity of the social networks’ users.

Along with the increase in the number of retail investors on the Internet, there are also more investing influencers like Elon Musk, who further stir up newly-minted investors. "There it is, the modern online finance industry. And it’s only going to get weirder from here," The Verge reports.

Retail investors’ behavior is sometimes chaotic: they acquire assets to take risks and have fun. And also because they can be quickly turned into a meme and promoted.

Not only celebrities and politicians now have fans, but cryptocurrencies as well. Their supporters have formed many communities, they use their own special slang and create memes.

These groups, as the song goes, have haters. For example, the Buttcoin account mokes Bitcoin supporters. The latter, in response, call the haters "resentful beggars."