Insights into Cryptocurrency Market Capitalization 💰
This year, the total market value of cryptocurrencies has surpassed 2.750 trillion dollars, based on figures from TradingView. This represents the highest value achieved in 2024.
Understanding Crypto Market Capitalization
The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency sector is essentially the aggregate of the market caps of all tracked digital currencies. It is a theoretical measure calculated by multiplying the current price of each cryptocurrency by the total amount of tokens in circulation.
For instance, if the value of Bitcoin stands at approximately $82,000 and around 19.8 million Bitcoins are currently circulating, its market cap would be estimated at about 1.6 trillion dollars. By performing similar calculations for each cryptocurrency and adding their respective market caps together, you can derive the overall market capitalization of the crypto market.
During the major speculation spike in 2021, the market reached its peak just before mid-November, exceeding 2.9 trillion dollars. In March of this year, Bitcoin’s new heights led to a total market capitalization breaching 2.720 trillion, making the current 2.750 trillion a significant figure for the year, though still shy of the historical high.
Bitcoin’s Market Capitalization 🪙
Currently, Bitcoin has not only reached its new price peak, but it has also set a record in terms of market capitalization. However, the question arises: why does the entire cryptocurrency market cap remain lower than its 2021 peak?
Back in November three years ago, Bitcoin’s price hit an all-time high of about $69,000, with its peak market cap reaching approximately 1.2 trillion dollars. Since then, the price has climbed, and the circulating supply of Bitcoin has also increased. By February of this year, the market cap surpassed the 1.200 trillion dollar mark and continued to rise, hitting 1.400 trillion in March. The significant milestone of 1.5 trillion was achieved on November 6, the day of the U.S. presidential elections, and has further grown to over 1.6 trillion today.
Market Capitalization of Altcoins 🚀
In contrast to Bitcoin’s record figures, Ethereum is still far from its historic highs. The all-time price of ETH remains just under $4,900, a figure achieved in November 2021, which corresponded to a peak market cap of nearly 560 billion dollars.
This year, Ethereum’s price reached around $4,100, yet its market capitalization did not surpass 470 billion dollars. Notably, the circulating supply of ETH has remained stable for almost two years. As of March this year, Ethereum’s market cap lagged behind the 2021 high by about 90 billion dollars, while Bitcoin managed to exceed its previous peak by approximately 200 billion dollars.
For altcoins in general, few have matched the performance of Bitcoin, with the majority following trends similar to Ethereum. Consequently, as of March, the total cryptocurrency market cap remained approximately 180 billion dollars below its all-time high from 2021. Today, although Bitcoin has surpassed its 2021 peak by around 400 billion dollars, Ethereum still sits around 180 billion lower, a trend that also applies to many altcoins.
The Total3 Metric 📊
This data also accounts for the market capitalizations of stablecoins, which are unaffected by fluctuating prices, but rather depend on the volume of tokens in circulation. To facilitate a better analysis of the true capitalization within the crypto landscape, TradingView has developed an index known as Total3. This index calculates the overall market capitalization of cryptocurrencies while excluding Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins.
Total3 thus provides insights into the market capitalization trends solely for altcoins, excluding Ethereum. The peak for Total3 was reached back in November 2021 when it soared past 1.130 trillion dollars. By March this year, Total3 couldn’t even surpass 790 billion dollars, indicating the missing 340 billion dollars that have hindered achieving a new all-time high for the overall crypto market capitalization.
As of now, the Total3 level stands below 740 billion, marking a decline of 50 billion in comparison to March. This indicates that the shortfall in altcoin market capitalization significantly exceeds that of Ethereum, with only Bitcoin and a select few cryptocurrencies reaching new heights in market cap.
Examining Stablecoin Market Capitalization 🏦
The situation surrounding stablecoin market capitalization is distinctly different. Despite their steady nature, stablecoins have not reached their historical highs either. Interestingly, the all-time high for stablecoin market cap was achieved not during the November 2021 surge but in May 2022, just before the collapse of the UST stablecoin from Terra/Luna.
While a market cap of 150 billion was recorded in November 2021, it nearly touched 190 billion in May 2022. By April of this year, stablecoin market capitalization rose to about 160 billion, and it currently hovers close to 180 billion, remaining about 10 billion short of the peak of 2022.
- Current market cap of cryptocurrencies: 2.750 trillion dollars
- Bitcoin’s current market cap: exceeds 1.6 trillion dollars
- Ethereum’s market cap: roughly 470 billion dollars
- Total3 peak: 1.130 trillion dollars in November 2021
- Stablecoin market cap: around 180 billion dollars
To summarize, while Bitcoin achieves new records, the broader crypto market, particularly among altcoins and stablecoins, continues to grapple with levels below their historical highs.
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