Currently, there are reportedly 19,627,706 bitcoins in circulation
Bitcoin is making a comeback. The cryptocurrency surpassed $1 trillion in market cap on Wednesday for the first time since late 2021, fueled by growing interest in spot bitcoin ETF.
Meanwhile, the overall cryptocurrency market surpassed $2 trillion in market cap.
The cryptocurrency’s rally raised stock values of crypto trading platforms (Coinbase, Microstrategy, etc.) and bitcoin miners (Iris Energy, Clean Spark, etc.) up to 20%.
Why the surge?
The bitcoin resurgence is attributed, in part, to the Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of bitcoin ETFs in January, which has already seen significant inflows.
The crypto market has received deposits totaling $9.5 billion, and over 71% of new money invested in bitcoin has originated from spot ETFs. There is steady interest from institutional investors like BlackRock and Fidelity.
Another factor is quadrennial halving, the pre-programmed protocol built into bitcoin that occurs once every four years, slated for April.
The bitcoin network was designed with a fixed supply of 21 million coins. Halving reduces the number of new bitcoins entering the market by (as the name suggests) half, thereby keeping its supply in check. Once the principles of supply and demand kick in, the halving event should escalate the prices.
The halving event in May 2020 resulted in investors gaining 700%. Experts predict that this year the event may not yield the same result.
Currently, there are 19,627,706 BTC in circulation, per Axios.
There is also speculation that ether—Ethereum’s native coin—could be proposed for ETF approval from the SEC.