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Bitcoin rallies above $57,000 as crypto market cap overtakes tech giants

Representation of cryptocurrencies are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on September 28, 2021. (Photo illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Bitcoin’s latest rally has taken the overall crypto market cap above $2.3tn, overtaking the value of tech giants like Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft. Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) continued to rally on Tuesday after reaching above $57,000 (£41,899) on Monday to hit a fresh five-month high.

The world's largest cryptocurrency was up 1.63% to trade at $57,194 after briefly dipping below $57,000 on Tuesday morning before continuing to rise, bringing its total gains for October to 32%.

Bitcoin’s latest rally has taken the overall crypto market cap above $2.3tn, overtaking the value of tech giants like Amazon (AMZN), Google's parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT). Only Apple (AAPL) is worth more than the cryptocurrency market, at $2.36tn.

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The market value of bitcoin alone is more than $1tn, bringing it to number eight on the list of top assets by market cap, above Facebook (FB) and Tesla (TSLA).

Bitcoin was up on Tuesday. Chart: Yahoo Finance UK
Bitcoin was up on Tuesday. Chart: Yahoo Finance UK (Yahoo Finance UK)

Bitcoin seems unaffected by comments by Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) chief executive, who said on Monday at a conference that cryptocurrencies will be regulated by governments and that he personally thinks bitcoin is "worthless".

"No matter what anyone thinks about it, government is going to regulate it. They are going to regulate it for (anti-money laundering) purposes, for [Bank Secrecy Act] purposes, for tax," Dimon, head of the US's largest bank, said.

Recent comments from the heads of the US Federal Reserve and US Securities and Exchange Commission, who said they have no intention of banning bitcoin, following a regulatory crackdown in China, have instead encouraged investors.

Read more: European stock markets head lower amid weak global sentiment

An anonymous investor, or group of investors, placed an order to buy $1.6bn worth of bitcoin on a cryptocurrency exchange on Wednesday. Such a large volume trade likely contributed to bitcoin’s price surge, pushing it above $57,000 for the first time since May.

Ethereum (ETH-USD), the world’s second largest crypto by market cap, failed to mirror bitcoin's gains on Tuesday, falling 2.5% to trade at $3,456.

Watch: What is bitcoin?