The market for cryptocurrencies has once again fallen below $1 trillion, with a current value of $997 billion.
The king of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, has fallen below the crucial $20,000 mark for the first time since July 14.
The same anxiety that ruled the markets in May, June, and the beginning of July is returning. Investors predict that when the Federal Reserve rapidly raises interest rates to combat inflation, which is at its highest in 40 years, the economy may enter a recession.
These worries have only increased the market volatility for cryptocurrencies. The bitcoin market has always experienced bull runs, even euphoria, which are frequently followed by equally powerful downturn swings. And when the declines persist for a considerable amount of time, we talk about crypto winter starting.
Since the invention of bitcoin in 2009, there have been a number of incidents. However, when we first started talking about the crypto winter, it was more about crypto booms popping. Let’s examine the two longest and most significant crypto winters.
Bitcoin was trading around $1,000 on January 6, 2014. Prices dropped the following day and did not rise again until February 2, 2017. The Mt. Gox crisis, which for a very long period damaged the reputation of the cryptocurrency industry, was the root of this crypto winter, which lasted for about 37 months.
One of the biggest and oldest bitcoin exchanges, Mt. Gox, vanished in February 2014. After repeated security lapses, the company temporarily halted withdrawals, losing around 850,000 bitcoins in the process. Many owners of those bitcoins have yet to receive their money back.
According to data from CoinGecko, bitcoin’s price dropped as low as $210 during this crypto winter, a 79% decrease.
On February 2, 2017, Bitcoin’s price rose and crossed the $1,000 mark, reaching $1,015.44. In contrast to when the cryptocurrency bubble burst in 2011, there was less discussion in 2014 about bitcoin’s impending demise.
Nearly three years passed during this crypto winter. Between July 2017 and mid-December 2017, Bitcoin increased by more than nine times, from $2,000 to $19,000. On July 17, the cost crossed the symbolic $20,000 mark.
But the breakdown started in January 2018. The price quickly increased to $10,000. In December 2018, they dropped to roughly $3,400, a decline of more than 80% in just under a year.
