Jeff Bezos, CEO of online shopping giant Amazon, recently tapped record levels of wealth, holding more personal wealth than all the speculative capital currently invested in cryptocurrency’s largest asset: Bitcoin (BTC).
“Amazon shares rose 4.4% to a record $ 2,878.70 on Wednesday, increasing the founder’s world leading fortune to $ 171.6 billion,” Bloomberg said in a July 1 article. “That exceeds its previous high of $ 167.7 billion, set on September 4, 2018, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.”
Bezos’ deep pockets compared to Bitcoin
At press time, Bitcoin has a market capitalization of approximately $ 166.4 billion, according to Coin360 data, which shows the value of all BTC in circulation at the current price level of the asset.
Bezos’ total net worth exceeds that number, revealing Bitcoin’s relatively small size compared to other markets and even people. For further comparison, the total market capitalization of gold stood at around $ 8 trillion in May 2020, according to Cointelegraph reports.
Bezos buying all available BTC
Even with his current net worth, Amazon’s billionaire CEO probably couldn’t buy all of the Bitcoin in circulation.
Bezos could buy the BTC available on change order books, Genesis Genesis Mining chief of mining operations Philip Salter speculated with Cointelegraph for a previous story. However, the activity would likely raise the price of the asset and remove liquidity from the market. Also, some people may not be willing to sell their BTC, while others have lost their Bitcoin over the years, unable to access it.
Derivatives trader and YouTuber Tone Vays also chimed in with similar ideas on the subject for a separate article. “It would drive the price of Bitcoin up to the point where it could no longer afford it,” Vays said of Bezos in April.
