The combined value of all cryptocurrencies put together reached a new high of $ 1.177 trillion on Feb. 5 at 9:30 am. While Bitcoin is often seen as a lone competitor to gold, it now seems more like the combined value of all cryptocurrencies combined is going to compete with the market cap of silver, which is approximately $1.17 trillion.

The $1 trillion milestone was reached early in the year 2021, with Bitcoin clearly leading the way. However, today's market is seeing a greater distribution between the two biggest players: Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). When the total market capitalization hit the $1 trillion milestone on Jan. 7, Bitcoin had a 69% market share and Ethereum a 13.5% market share. This distribution is now respectively at a share of 62.2% against a share of 15.6%.

Ethereum's relatively stronger market share points to the asset's record performance this week, with a new all-time high of $1,689 on Feb. 3. At that time, Bitcoin's market share was even as low as 61.2%.

At the time of writing, the price of Ethereum is at $1,656, up 1.8% from 24 hours ago, while Bitcoin’s price is at $37,630, up 0.4% ​​from 24 hours ago. The rise in the price of Ethereum has led to an equally sharp rise in gas fees, with knock-on consequences for DeFi protocols, where gas fees are now also sky-high.

Nevertheless, the confidence of private and institutional investors does not seem to be waning. A proposed fee-and-burn mechanism for Ethereum from Vitalik Buterin and Eric Conner has boosted the confidence of Grayscale Investments, who believe that implementing this mechanism could lead to a positive feedback loop for Ethereum's price.

Market analysts this week also pointed to the current incentives for “bulls” to push Bitcoin towards $ 40,000, including the $1 billion total of Bitcoin options expiring today.