Bitcoin (BTC) Surpasses Amazon to Become the World's Fifth-Largest Asset by Market Capitalization

Bitcoin (BTC) is back in its surge mode, hitting an all-time high of $110,724 in the early morning hours. With this milestone, BTC has now surpassed Amazon to become the world's fifth-largest asset by market capitalization.

Bitcoin (BTC) has hit a new all-time high of $110,724 in the early morning hours, placing it among the world’s fifth-largest asset by market capitalization.

At the time of press, Bitcoin is trading at $109,980.69, after a 2.80% increase over the past 24 hours. BTC’s market cap now stands at a massive $2.18 trillion, and the 24-hour trading volume has surged by 126.91% to reach $83.35 billion.

Interestingly, today also marks the 15th anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day, a date that marks the first commercial transaction made with Bitcoin. Back in 2010, Florida-based programmer Laszlo Hanyecz traded 10,000 BTC for two Papa John’s pizzas. At the time, the 10,000 BTC were valued at around $40, while the pizzas costed about $25. However, 15 years later, those same Bitcoins are now worth nearly $1.1 billion. For comparison, the market capitalization of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PAPI) is currently only $16.55 billion.

Bitcoin’s new all-time high has also significantly boosted the profits of several major Bitcoin holders, including El Salvador, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy Inc (NASDAQ:MICRO) ), and the Japanese firm MetaPlanet.

El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele shared a screenshot on Monday, showcasing that the current value of the country’s national Bitcoin holdings is approximately $678 million. This represents an unrealized gain of about $386 million, a 132.35% increase from the country’s total cumulative investment of around $292 million. In response to critics, President Bukele quipped, “They say not to take screenshots, but to take profits.”

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President Bukele of El Salvador disclosed that the Central American nation’s BTC holdings have generated significant paper gains. As of Monday, San Salvador’s total unrealized profit from its Bitcoin investment stands at around $386 million.

El Salvador began accumulating BTC in 2021 after making the cryptocurrency legal tender in December 2021. According to President Bukele’s latest update in March, the country has invested a total of $291.4 million in BTC.

Earlier this year, Bitcoin broke through the $100,000 mark for the first time, quickly placing it among the world’s top five largest assets by market capitalization.

At the beginning of April, Strategy also disclosed that it had purchased an additional 467 BTC for an average price of $60,314 per coin. To date, the firm has accumulated a total of 576,230 BTC, acquired at a total cost of approximately $40.18 billion, which comes to an average of $69,726 per BTC.

The company now holds unrealized gains of about $23.04 billion on its Bitcoin investment, considering the latest price of BTC at $109,980.69.

Meanwhile, MetaPlanet - a Japanese company that develops and operates the smartphone game "Metaverse Planet," announced in December that it has invested in Bitcoin once again. The company is known for converting a portion of its assets into cryptocurrency investments.

Previously, MetaPlanet had disclosed in August that it had purchased 3,000 BTC at an average historical price of 13.51 million yen (approximately $94,174) per BTC for a total investment of 40.5 billion yen (approximately $279.7 million).

At the time, the company also revealed that it planned to invest another 30 billion yen in BTC if the opportunity arose, aiming for a total BTC investment of 60 billion yen by the end of the year.

According to the company’s latest report for the third quarter of fiscal 2024, which ended on March 31, 2024, MetaPlanet has increased its BTC holdings to 7,800. The report estimates that the company’s unrealized gains on its Bitcoin investment are currently around $121 million.

Optimism In The Crypto Community

The surge has also sent a wave of optimism throughout the crypto community.

Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of the digital asset trading platform Nexo,