From decrypt by Vince Dioquino

Bitcoin's market capitalization overtook silver Monday evening, reaching $1.75 trillion to secure its position as the world's eighth-largest asset.

It comes as Bitcoin breached $89,000, topping out at $89,560, before dropping back below those levels, data from CoinGecko shows. 

The asset has lept more than 9% on the day following strong institutional demand and sustained interest in spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in recent weeks.

It also marks the second time Bitcoin has flipped silver this year, after overtaking the commodity in March, according to data from Infinite Market Cap. 

Silver, meanwhile, has witnessed a decline of 6.24% over the past week, bringing its total market cap to $1.732 trillion. Bitcoin, meanwhile, is up by roughly 30% over the same period.

The comparison with silver, historically viewed as a relatively stable store of value, signals a transforming perception of Bitcoin among traditional investors, shifting from a speculative asset to one embraced by Wall Street.

Bitcoin's rally reflects a broader shift in investor sentiment following recent political developments in the U.S. elections, which saw Donald Trump claiming victory.

Those shifts have signaled both opportunity and optimism in the markets, with potential regulatory support expected as pro-crypto lawmakers take power. 

A rising tide

Bitcoin’s performance for the week has also helped bolster adjacent indices as investors look to alternative investment vehicles for high-risk beta plays compared to traditional assets.

The broader "Bitcoin Industrial Complex" index, which includes U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs, MicroStrategy, and Coinbase, achieved a record $38 billion in trading volume, according to a post on X from Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

Coinbase stock closed at $334.24 for Monday's trading session, marking a 3-year high. MicroStrategy's stock also broke another all-time high above $351, its first in almost 25 years.

Bitcoin now trails only seven global assets: gold, with its $14.7 trillion market cap, followed by tech giants NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet, and Amazon. Saudi Aramco, the national petroleum and natural gas company, retains its spot as the seventh-largest at $1.8 trillion in size.

While gold remains over 10 times larger than Bitcoin on market capitalization, the scarcity narrative over Bitcoin continues to attract investors seeking a hedge against traditional market uncertainties.

“The fact that gold is still 10 times larger than Bitcoin is incredible,” authors of the financial newsletter, The Kobessi Letter, wrote in a Monday post on X. "Not only does this show how big gold is, but it also shows how big Bitcoin can be."