Bitcoin is only 10 years old, but has already seen 3 major bear markets during this time. The cryptocurrency fell below USD 3,500 for the first time in the last 14 months. This is a loss of 81% from its peak.
Bitcoin recovered since a little bit and trades well above USD 4,000 today. But the loss isn’t the worst Bitcoin has suffered.
In June 2011 the cryptocurrency traded at a then new all-time high of roughly USD 30. But by November 2011, the coin was back trading below USD 2.50, tumbling more than 92% from its peak then.
Bitcoin first shot above the USD 1,000 mark in December 2013. Within 2 years it was back below USD 200. The cryptocurrency saw an 84% fall during this period.
In dollar terms, the 2018 damage has been much more significant. Roughly USD 700 billion has been wiped off cryptocurrencies’ global market capitalization since the high. The price of one Bitcoin has dropped from an all-time high of USD 20,000 by more than USD 15,000 since December last year.
Trading volumes are down drastically. Bitcoin’s 24-hour volume was near USD 49 billion at the peak, and as of Monday was down 61 percent, to USD 19 billion. While the downturn might not be over yet there are reasons to be bullish for long term investors:
a) Despite the volatility, it’s still the up more than 400% in the past two years. Outperforming stock markets by far in the same period. “Through b) While during 2017 all buyers of Bitcoin were retail investors, you are starting to see institutional investors to come in and buy the crypto currency.
Sven Franssen