Currently worth $70 Bn, Is this a lot?
Personally it seems quite a lot for a fairly untested currency.
US gold reserves currently worth something like $300Bn, the largest in the world (though it's no clear if anyones checked its there). All this is less than a company like Google but still $70Bn is a lot of money.
For the bitcoin price to rise a lot of money would have to flow in. Right now it seems like every grandma and her dog is being persuaded onto the bitcoin bandwagon. Is this not a sign of an impending crash, in which those at the bottom of the pyramid get burned? Is the bitcoin rise sustainable? Where will the money be flowing in from? Will shops have to start selling bitcoin investment scratch cards over the counter to keep the price rising?
I'm keen to head from people who can make arguments based on fundamental economic principles, either way.
The market cap is just a product of supply and demand for Bitcoin. If more people want it at these prices, they'll just keep buying it and the price and maker cap will keep rising. As mining gets harder and Bitcoins get more scarce, the price will keep rising. This is all part of the design of Bitcoin where the supply is limited and after the 21 million are mined, the supply ends. Bitcoin is designed to be deflationary so the value will rise over time while fiat currencies are inflationary as governments print more money.