Bitcoin Just Beat Amazon. Is Apple Next?
On July 14, Bitcoin officially became more valuable than Amazon (AMZN).
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After jumping nearly 13% in just a week, the world’s most famous cryptocurrency crossed $122,600 and hit a market cap of roughly $2.4 trillion. That pushed it ahead of Amazon’s estimated $2.3 trillion valuation, making Bitcoin one of the five most valuable assets on Earth. Not bad for a digital token some still call “fake internet money.”
Bitcoin ETFs Fueled the Surge
The move wasn’t driven by hype alone. A record wave of inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs played a huge role. In two back-to-back trading days, U.S.-listed Bitcoin funds pulled in over $1 billion each, the strongest streak since they launched in early 2024. These ETFs have become the gateway for traditional investors, from hedge funds to pension managers, to get exposure to Bitcoin without touching crypto wallets or exchanges. BlackRock’s fund (IBIT) alone now holds more than $80 billion worth of BTC.
Washington Cleared the Way
But it wasn’t just the money pouring in. Policy momentum has finally turned in Bitcoin’s favor. In July, Washington held what’s now being called “Crypto Week” — a slate of pro-crypto legislation that included clearer rules, protections for digital asset investors, and a much-needed signal from lawmakers: crypto isn’t going away. That rare bipartisan alignment gave institutions the green light to step in more aggressively.
Trump Helped Bitcoin’s Ascent
Then there’s the broader backdrop. The Trump administration has leaned crypto-friendly, the dollar has been weakening, and many investors are looking for alternatives to centralized finance. Bitcoin, with its hard cap of 21 million coins and borderless design, is looking more attractive. It’s become a structural piece of the new financial system.
Bitcoin Behaves Like a Big Tech Stock
And that’s probably the most important shift underway. Bitcoin isn’t being treated like a fringe asset anymore. It’s moving in sync with tech stocks and showing up in institutional portfolios. One study earlier this year found that Bitcoin’s correlation with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 reached 0.87 — higher than it’s ever been. Essentially, Bitcoin is a risk asset being priced in alongside the biggest names in tech.
Bitcoin’s Scale Is Massive
Of course, the narrative is about more than just movement. It’s about magnitude. Bitcoin’s price in 2010 was about ten cents. Fifteen years later, it hit a record high of $122,000. That’s a 1.2 million percent return. There’s no other asset in modern financial history with a trajectory like that. What started as a cypherpunk experiment is now being compared to Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) in size.
A big reason behind that rise is scarcity. Bitcoin’s 21 million supply cap is hard-coded. No CEO, no central bank, no stimulus committee can inflate it. That scarcity mirrors gold; but unlike gold, Bitcoin is digital, transparent and liquid around the clock. It’s become a hedge, a reserve, and for many companies, a treasury asset.
And companies are buying. As of this year, more than 265 private and public firms hold Bitcoin, accounting for about 4% of total supply. Bitcoin ETFs, collectively, hold around 6.6%. These are not niche allocations anymore. They’re foundational bets on where the financial world is headed.
Bitcoin Could Be Gunning for Apple Next
To do that, it would need to jump another 15%–35%, depending on which company you’re measuring against. That would push Bitcoin’s market cap toward the $3 trillion range. And based on some of the current momentum, analysts are warming to that possibility. Several institutional forecasts now place Bitcoin above $140,000 by the end of the year, with some pointing toward $180,000–$200,000 if ETF demand holds strong.
That’s the bull case. But getting there isn’t guaranteed. If ETF inflows slow, or if U.S. policy changes up once again, Bitcoin could lose steam. Its price is still sensitive to interest rate moves and macro conditions. And for all its mainstream progress, the asset remains volatile in both directions.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is sitting at $114,086.66.
