Total Crypto Market Cap Surpasses $1.4 Trillion USD as Bull Run Continues

The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market reached an all-time high of $1.44 trillion early on February 10th, 2020 as interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchains continues to increase.

Bitcoin’s value soared on February 8th as news of Tesla’s acquisition of $1.5 billion in Bitcoin were published by major news outlets, which in addition to Elon Musk’s personal endorsement of Bitcoin and Doge, resulted in putting the crypto market in the spotlight for the general public.

As a result of this news, BTC saw its value increase by over $8,000 in less than a day, reaching a new all-time high of $48,025.

Tesla’s move has also generated speculation among investors on the possibility of other institutional players following the steps, with analysts like Paul Steves speculating that Apple could be the next company to invest in Bitcoin.

According to Steves, Apple could disrupt its industry and start to play an essential role in guiding its future by joining the cryptocurrency market, as well as “unlock a multi-billion dollar opportunity with a few clicks.”

Bitcoin Bull Run is Player an Important Role

However, not all experts are so positive about the possibility of other institutions following Tesla’s move.

JP Morgan’s strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, Managing Director of Global Market Strategy at the company, believe that the volatile nature of Bitcoin would act as a deterrent for companies to acquire and hold the cryptocurrency.

While such a risk could be unacceptable for some investors, it is important to keep in mind that Tesla’s SEC filing stated that the company “may or may not liquidate [the BTC] upon receipt”, which would open the doors to using Bitcoin only as a payment method if the risk becomes unacceptable to its management

Twitter is Considering Paying Salaries in Bitcoin

Twitter could be the next giant to invest in Bitcoin after Tesla’s new investment strategy.

According to Ned Segal, Twitter’s Chief Financial Officer, the company has already been looking into the option to pay its employees salaries using Bitcoin, should they ask to.

While no change has been done so far, the company is aware that the decision will depend on the interest of its employees on such an alternative, which would require the company to have Bitcoin in its balance sheet to be able to fulfill the requests.

When talking about the risk that of investing in Bitcoin, Segal stated:

“When we hedge currencies, when we do business in another country, when we think about all the different exposures that we have, we’re really trying to match our assets and our liabilities, and we take the same approach to Bitcoin that we do to all the other types of risks that we have.”

Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey has also been supportive of Bitcoin since 2014. Back on February 5th, he revealed via Twitter. that he was not only an active investor in the cryptocurrency but was also running a Bitcoin Node.

Dorsey is also the CEO of Square Inc., a company that acquired over $50 million worth of Bitcoin in October of 2020 via an over-the-counter transaction.

Despite Twitter’s value being a fraction of Tesla’s, adoption of the cryptocurrency by the tech giant could be the first of many domino pieces falling as institutional investors follow-through, which could further increase the adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

As large money enters the crypto markets, it would appear that further gains, at least at a market-level, are all but certain.

The big question is whether or not these big purchases will lead to equally big liquidations in the not-too-distant future, which could trigger massive losses, at least in the short run.

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