Bitcoin now worth more than Facebook Inc as price smashes US$40,000 barrier

The cumulative value of Bitcoin has surpassed the market cap of social media giant () after the price of the cryptocurrency surged to US$41,111 as of late-afternoon trading in London on Friday.

According to data from platform AssetDash, the total value of all Bitcoins in circulation now stands at US$779.6bn, above Facebook’s market cap of around US$756.6bn.

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The rise of Bitcoin also makes it the seventh most valuable asset in the world, while its surge throughout 2020 has also helped the entire crypto market surpass US$1 trillion in value.

However, the cryptocurrency faces a more difficult fight if it wants to crack the top five, with the sixth most valuable entity, () valued at US$818bn while the fifth place constituent, Google parent (NASDAQ:GOOGL), holds a market cap of US$1.2 trillion, US$428bn higher than Bitcoin.

But some analysts also think Bitcoin could run further in the near-term, with OANDA’s Craig Erlam pointing out that it has taken the crypto less than a month to rise to US$40,000 from US$20,000.

However, Erlam warned that the Bitcoin market is “very much in speculative bubble territory” and it is “becoming increasingly likely that it’s going to get messy as there’s no logic behind what we’re seeing”.

“It’s pure speculation and [fear of missing out] and that never ends well. I previously said I wouldn’t be surprised to see US$50,000 before the end of the month and I’m now thinking that was too conservative. The last US$10,000 move only took four days. It’s getting silly now”, he concluded.