Bitcoin's Explosive Growth: From Obscurity to Trillion-Dollar Asset
Bitcoin's value has grown exponentially over its 17-year history, from an experiment with no established market price to an asset worth around $1.6 trillion.
This puts Bitcoin in a very exclusive club, with only a few other assets reaching similar valuations. In fact, it now represents about 1% of 'global money', according to River's calculation.
Bitcoin first crossed the $1 trillion threshold in 2021 and reached another record during its 2025 rally. Even after retreating substantially from that high, it remains a trillion-dollar asset.
The comparison with gold is also interesting. Gold has an estimated value of over $30 trillion, making it much larger than Bitcoin. However, investors are increasingly considering both assets as alternatives to traditional fiat currencies.