SA国际传媒

The bearish market continues in crypto as Bitcoin briefly dropped below $21,000 Monday morning.

Bitcoin鈥攖he largest cryptocurrency by market cap鈥攍ast hit that low mark in mid-July before going on a little resurgence for about three weeks. However, it started dropping again last week, losing around 10%.

The drop sent the total crypto market cap teetering right at about $1 trillion.

Later in the morning Bitcoin was trading well above $21,000.

In addition to Bitcoin鈥檚 continued woes, Ether also has taken a hit of late. After hitting highs not seen since May, Ether is down nearly 15% in the last week.

Ether鈥攖he second largest cryptocurrency by market cap鈥攄ipped as low as about $1,530, before settling in at around $1,580 later in the morning.

Ether鈥檚 gains earlier in the month were likely buoyed by Ethereum鈥檚 continued progress toward its software transition from using proof-of-work to proof-of-stake to validate transactions. The blockchain successfully tested the transition鈥攐r 鈥渕erge,鈥� as it is called鈥攊n July and the move to proof-of-stake is expected next month.

The change is significant as proof-of-work consensus is energy-intensive and therefore considered by many to be environmentally unfriendly.

Crypto鈥檚 fall

The declines over the last week may be cornering, considering there is not a clear market driver for it. While the implosion of the Terra stablecoin and bankruptcies of crypto lenders were clear factors into the earlier decline this summer, there is not a immediately recognizable factor leading to the current dip aside from the rocky economy.

It was just last November when many cryptocurrencies were at an all-time high鈥攊ncluding Bitcoin flirting with $68,000.

Those days seem like a lifetime ago鈥攅specially for investors.

Further reading:

• Crypto Market Tumult Drops Bitcoin To 18-Month Low
• Crypto Bear Market Here A While
• Mergers & Money: The Instability Of Stablecoins
• Luna 2.0 Launches To Mixed Results

Illustration: Dom Guzman