$300 Bln Is a Drop In the Ocean, Bitcoin Is Still a Baby and Can’t Be a Bubble
Looking at the total market cap of the cryptocurrency market, which recently crossed over the $300 bln mark, it is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. This digital currency world that came into being less than 10 years ago has grown astronomically in such a short space of time.
Indeed, 2017 alone has seen just Bitcoin go from $800 to nearly $10,000, and there is still a month to go. The records have crumbled for the Big digital currencies, as well as the new ones as the boom in ICO’s have also help set unprecedented growth.
Thus, as the most impressive performing asset class ever seen, surely Bitcoin is on the verge of taking over the world? Even that has two ways of being viewed - in relation, or in fear - but, no, Bitcoin is a small fish.
Bitcoin vs Gold
Looking at the actual commodity markets out there, and weighing up Bitcoin’s $300 bln, it quickly becomes apparent that the digital currency is still splashing in the shallow end.
Gold, which Bitcoin is supposed to be challenging, has a market cap of $6 tln. On top of that, only about a fifth of all the mined gold is held for private investment purposes, the rest is either in jewelery - the large majority - or the official sector, or still underground.
Thus, seeing as the value of all gold mined comes in just over $7 tln, about $1.6 tln of it is being used for private investment purposes.
Look deeper at the markets. Equities, another investible asset, has a market cap of $55 tln; then there is $94 tln in securitized debt and $162 tln in residential real estate, according to a 2016 report.
Not even close to being overvalued
So, what does it mean if Bitcoin is a record breaker for speed, but not for size? It breaks down a lot of the bubble talk that is floating around there. For a market that only makes up 0.3 percent, when put next to residential estate value, securitized debt, equities, commercial real estate, farmland and gold, -- it can hardly be called a massive bubble