Gold’s market value has soared to over $30 trillion for the first time in history, making it the largest asset by market capitalization to date. Can Bitcoin catch up?
Summary
- Gold’s market capitalization has surpassed $30 trillion for the first time in history as spot prices hit $4,369, reinforcing its dominance as the world’s largest asset.
- Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s market capitalization has fallen to $2.15 trillion after losing more than $200 billion this week, widening the gap between the two assets.
According to data from Companies Market Cap, gold has risen 1.49% in the last 24 hours. It is currently trading at $4,369 after the rise. This month, the precious metals asset surpassed the $30 trillion market capitalization threshold for the first time in history. At that time, spot prices still stood at $4,280.
At the time of writing, gold remains the largest asset by market capitalization. In fact, its market value far exceeds the other four assets in the top five by a significant margin. NVIDIA is in second place with a market capitalization of $4.4 trillion, followed by Microsoft with $3.8 trillion and Apple with $3.6 trillion.
Meanwhile, its metallic counterpart, silver, is still below the top five with a market capitalization of $2.9 trillion.
In eighth place is Bitcoin (btc), which has lost billions in market cap following a series of cryptocurrency market crashes following $19 billion settlement annihilation of October 10. As of October 17, Bitcoin’s market capitalization stands at $2.15 trillion, having lost between $200 billion and $230 billion this week alone.
There was a time when Bitcoin was hitting record highs consecutively as its market capitalization skyrocketed above major companies and even minerals like silver. In April 2025, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization rose through the ranks and became the fifth largest asset in the world when its market capitalization rose to $1.86 trillion.
At that time, Bitcoin was about to reach the $100,000 mark. Despite surpassing $100,000 and reaching a new ATH of $126,080 this month, Bitcoin’s growth has been relatively slow compared to other assets that have seen market value increases to levels over $3 trillion.
Can Bitcoin Really Overtake Gold’s Market Cap?
The gap between Bitcoin and gold as safe haven assets continues to widen. Like Bitcoin fights To stay afloat amid falling cryptocurrency prices, gold has been thriving as more investors flock to it as a safe haven asset amid economic uncertainty caused by Trump’s trade war with China.
At press time, Bitcoin has fallen 4.5% in the last 24 hours. It is currently trading at $105,834, perched precariously on the edge of $100,000.
Meanwhile, the price of gold has jumped to a new record high of $4,300 and is already up almost 60% in the last year. On the other hand, Bitcoin is up 57.3%. However, it has been on a decline for the past week, as it struggles to regain its previous highs of $120,000.
Late 2024, ARK Investment Management Founder and CEO Cathie Wood provided that Bitcoin could one day surpass gold. At the time, BTC had just reached a market capitalization of $2 trillion, while gold still stood at $15 trillion. He described Bitcoin as being in its “early stages,” considering that it has managed to reach $2 trillion in just 15 years.
Meanwhile, gold has been around longer and managed to reach $15 trillion. However, gold’s market value has since doubled over the past year after hitting new all-time market highs, while Bitcoin has not ventured too far above the $2 trillion mark.
More recently, Deutsche Bank predicted that central banks will start buying BTC by 2030, which could increase its value in the market.
