Why Bitcoin's market cap just hit a new record high before the price did

Recent rally saw its market cap push above $330 billion for the first time ever as prices rallied above $17,750 late Nov. 17.

According to CoinGecko, Bitcoin's previous record capitalization of $329.3 billion was posted on Dec. 16, 2017, amid the market's all-time high price rally to test $20,000.

The new record for capitalization comes despite the BTC price itself failing to break into new highs.

While roughly 16.75 million Bitcoin existed on Dec. 16, 2017, more than 1.8 million coins have since been mined, equating to a 10.75% expansion in supply.

That means Bitcoin is able to have a higher market cap despite today's lower BTC price.

According to the World Bank, Bitcoin's market capitalization exceeds that of the combined publicly-listed companies based in countries including Belgium, Iran, Norway, Sweden and the Philippines, while it's more than double those in Denmark, Qatar, Vietnam, Colombia and Poland.

Compared to companies featured in the S&P 500, Bitcoin's market cap sits roughly $13 billion behind the 11th-ranked Procter and Gamble, and above Nvidia and JP Morgan.

Some would argue that comparing Bitcoin to companies isn't very enlightening and that it should be likened to commodities or another asset class.

Despite the all-time high milestone, some analysts are noting a lack of mainstream media coverage on Bitcoin's recent gains.

According to Google Trends, search volume for the keyword "Bitcoin" during November is roughly 15% of its 2017 peak, further evidencing a relative lack of retail interest in BTC compared to when the market last rallied into parabolic highs.