A Brief History of Bitcoin Crashes and Bear Markets: 2009-2022

June 2022 became Bitcoin's worst month since September 2011 as its monthly losses rose to 40 %. The cryptocurrency also posted its heaviest quarterly losses in 11 years. Zooming out on the price chart captures the five biggest bear markets in the history of the key cryptocurrency.

Bear Market #1: Bitcoin Falls From $32 to $0.01 in 2011

Bitcoin hit $1 in late April 2011 and began its climb to $32 on June 8, 2011. However, the joy was short-lived as the value of BTC subsequently fell to just $0.01 within days.

The sharp selloff was attributed to problems at the now-defunct Mt.Gox, a Japanese crypto exchange. The exchange has seen the theft of 850,000 BTC. BTC lost about 99 % of its value in a few days.

Bear Market #2: Falling from $1,000 to Under $200 in 2015

The price of Bitcoin reached $100 in mid-April 2013 and then briefly hit $1,000 in November 2013.

Bitcoin entered a massive bear market shortly after when China's central bank banned local financial institutions from processing BTC transactions in late 2013. The general sentiment around was negative until August 2015, when the trend started a long-term reversal.

Bear Market #3: Bitcoin Falls Below $3,200 After Hitting $20,000 in December 2017

After recovering to $1,000 in January 2017, Bitcoin continued to rise to $20,000. However, the triumph was again short-lived as BTC lost more than 60 % of its value in a matter of months.

The copper market was kicked off by problems at the Coincheck exchange, which suffered a gigantic hack in January 2018 that resulted in the loss of $530 million worth of cryptocurrencies, and Facebook and Google banned ads for ICOs and token sales on their platforms in March and June 2018.

Bear Market #4: BTC Drops from $63,000 to $29,000 in 2021

Bearish sentiment dominated until 2020, after which Bitcoin returned to $20,000, entered a massive bull run, and topped $63,000 in April 2021. However, within three months, it had dropped to $29,000.

The small bear market in 2021 created a narrative that BTC mining has an environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) problem. Then China launched a major crackdown on local miners. The bullish trend returned at the end of July and Bitcoin finally recorded the November 2021 ATH of $68,000.

Bear Market #5: Bitcoin Falls From $68,000 To Below $20,000 In 2022

Bitcoin began to decline in late 2021, and in 2022 it recorded one of its biggest historical declines. In June, the cryptocurrency fell below $20,000 for the first time since 2020.

The ongoing bear market is largely attributed to the collapse of algorithmic stablecoins – namely TerraUSD Classic (USTC) – which are designed to support a stable 1:1 peg to the US dollar through blockchain algorithms.

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All content in this article is for informational purposes only and does not in any way serve as investment advice. Investing in cryptocurrencies, commodities and stocks is very risky and can lead to capital losses.