Gold’s market capitalisation tops $30trn for the first time

It is now 14.5 times bitcoin’s ($2.1trn).

On 17 October gold set a new price record—above $4,380 per ounce. Since the start of the year the metal has risen 64.7%.

With the new all-time high, the metal’s market capitalisation crossed $30trn. It is now 14.5 times the size of bitcoin’s ($2.1trn) and one-and-a-half times the combined value of the seven largest technology companies (~$20trn). 

Analysts at Morgan Stanley linked the gold rally to fears of a bubble in the AI industry, geopolitical tensions, trade wars and devaluation of the US dollar. 

Gold shortage in Vietnam

On 17 October Vietnam’s authorities scrapped the state monopoly on gold. As a result, thousands of residents rushed to jewellery stores despite the rising price of the metal, local media reported. 

Long lines formed outside Saigon Jewelry Company in Ho Chi Minh City. Amid abnormal demand, the firm introduced special rules: bullion was sold only with prior online registration. 

“It is almost impossible to buy bars, so I had to settle for rings despite all the restrictions,” a city resident noted. 

Other large sellers faced the same situation. The sharp imbalance between supply and demand has left Vietnam with a shortage of gold products. 

What about digital gold? 

Over the past 24 hours bitcoin’s price fell by nearly 5%, briefly dropping below $105,000. The leading cryptocurrency now trades around $105,900. 

Market participants remain optimistic. In the view of the analyst known as Sykodelic, once gold’s rally ends, capital will start flowing into bitcoin. 

I don’t understand how so many people can’t see it.

GOLD added over $300bn to its market cap today.

Just today.

It’s been adding an entire Bitcoin market cap in ONE WEEK!

And people keep saying “wHeRe Is ThE MoNeY GoNna CoMe FroM bRo” ?

I don’t understand how most cannot…

— Sykodelic 🔪 (@Sykodelic_) October 16, 2025

“I don’t understand how most cannot see the obvious: as soon as gold stops, bitcoin will shoot up. This is the most transparent manoeuvre by big capital to rotate positions,” he wrote. 

He argues that large players are deliberately holding back the leading cryptocurrency to “pump” gold and extract maximum profit. According to him, the tactical pressure on the crypto market serves two aims: 

• to force retail investors into panic-selling digital assets;
• to direct the freed-up capital into overheated gold and equity markets. 

“Then [investors] will crash gold, using ordinary people as exit liquidity, turn around and pile into bitcoin, sending it so high that it will shock everyone,” Sykodelic stressed. 

Venture investor Joe Consorti added that the first cryptocurrency needs to loosen its correlation with American stocks to deliver a bullish scenario. Earlier, CoinGecko analysts recorded zero correlation between digital gold and the S&P 500 in the third quarter. 

An analyst under the pseudonym Merlijn the Trader drew attention to the rising global money supply (M2) as bitcoin stagnates. He suggested the gap between liquidity and the asset “cannot persist for long”. 

BITCOIN IS LAGGING BEHIND GLOBAL LIQUIDITY AND GOLD.

M2 is surging.
Gold is ripping.
Bitcoin is sleeping.

This divergence never lasts.
Liquidity always finds risk.

The catch-up rally will be brutal. pic.twitter.com/VQXAqhUUEH

— Merlijn The Trader (@MerlijnTrader) October 16, 2025

In a separate post he also drew a historical parallel with 2017 and 2020, when bitcoin multiplied after gold hit peak levels. 

A researcher going by Ash Crypto suggested that the metal could set a local top during the the Fed meeting on 29 October. 

“After that we will witness a massive shift of liquidity into the first cryptocurrency,” he noted. 

In early October, Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets at VanEck, said that gold’s rise would push bitcoin to $644,000 per coin.