Bitcoin Slips 6%, Market Cap Drops Below $1 Trillion Again

As Bitcoin markets begin to form another day in red, the market capitalization of the cryptocurrency has fallen below $1 trillion once more. On February 19, the BTC market cap reached a trillion dollars for the first time, but it did not last long, dropping below it after just four days. It reached ten figures for the second time on March 9, and it remained above that mark until today's drop.

The popular cryptocurrency was changing hands at $52,719.85 at press time, down 6.66% in the previous 24 hours.

According to CoinGecko, the overall market capitalization of the entire crypto ecosystem is currently $1.65 trillion. Since Monday, March 22, it has dropped 9.8%, or $180 billion.

Leading central banks across the world, including the Federal Reserve, have stated that they are unconcerned about the rising popularity of digital currencies and stable coins.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell dismissed bitcoin's position as a global currency in a panel discussion at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Summit on Monday, saying it is too unpredictable for consumers.

Bitcoin, according to Powell, is a speculative commodity that is not backed by anything. "Crypto assets are extremely volatile, making them unsuitable as a store of value," he said. "It's a speculative commodity that's basically a gold-like replacement for the dollar."

Since the dollar is the world's reserve currency, Powell believes the Federal Reserve should be at the forefront of creating a central bank digital currency, but that the process should not be rushed.

According to a new internal study from CoinPayments, the world's largest crypto payment processor, the North American cryptocurrency industry saw a 300 percent spike in transactions from the first quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020 as more companies and retailers adopted digital currencies.