Why Bitcoin is ‘a competitor to gold’, and not the US dollar: Jerome Powell

• Jerome Powell compares Bitcoin to gold and emphasizes its position as a speculative asset.
• Bitcoin surpasses silver in worth, reaching $102,000, however continues to be removed from gold’s $18 trillion.

Throughout his appearance on the DealBook Summit on December 4, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell shared his views on Bitcoin [BTC]’s evolving position within the monetary panorama.

Powell described BTC as turning into extra like gold somewhat than the US greenback, highlighting its potential as a retailer of worth somewhat than a standard foreign money.

He mentioned,

“Folks use Bitcoin as a speculative asset. It is like gold: it is simply digital and digital.”

Jerome Powell’s Daring Bitcoin Stand

As anticipated, Powell additional addressed issues about Bitcoin’s potential menace to the US greenback and the authority of the Federal Reserve.

He clarified that regardless of its rising recognition, BTC doesn’t pose a problem to the power of the greenback because it stays extremely unstable and isn’t extensively used as a main fee methodology or a steady retailer of worth.

Powell emphasised that whereas Bitcoin’s position as a digital asset continues to evolve, its volatility limits its reliability in mainstream monetary transactions.

He added:

“It isn’t a competitor for the greenback. It truly is a competitor for gold.”

Are Trump’s pro-crypto plans beginning to take form?

Apparently, POwell’s feedback got here as the brand new Trump administration was anticipated to push for the legalization of digital property.

As everyone knows, Trump embraced cryptocurrencies throughout his marketing campaign and accepted donations in BTC, Ethereum [ETH]Dogecoin [DOGE]and Solana [SOL]and promised to ascertain a nationwide Bitcoin reserve.

On the July Bitcoin convention, Trump emphasised the necessity for the US to develop into a crypto superpower or danger falling behind nations like China.

Nevertheless, Powell reiterated that the Federal Reserve doesn’t see it as its position to manage the cryptocurrency sector.

When requested about his private stance on BTC, Powell revealed that as a authorities official he’s “not allowed” to personal it.

Bitcoin’s Current Developments

Following Trump’s election victory final month, Bitcoin staged a formidable rally, hitting document highs and briefly surpassing $98,000 earlier than stabilizing.

On December 4, Bitcoin was buying and selling round $96,800, however it did not cease there. Most not too long ago, it rose even additional previous the $100,000 mark, reaching $102,436.85 after rising 6.12% in simply 24 hours, based on CoinMarketCap.

With a market cap of $1.92 trillion, Bitcoin has now surpassed silver, which is valued at $1.75 trillion, making it the eighth Most worthy asset globally.

Nevertheless, it’s nonetheless a far cry from gold, which has a market worth of just about $18 trillion.