Bitcoin Faces Its Worst Performance Since Mid-2022
Investors experience significant unrealized losses as Bitcoin declines sharply this February.
Bitcoin Faces Its Worst Performance Since Mid-2022
Investors experience significant unrealized losses as Bitcoin declines sharply this February.
Bitcoin (BTC) is on track for its worst month in three years, falling 22% as President Donald Trump’s tariffs on major U.S. trading partners raise concerns of faster inflation, reduced chance of interest-rate cuts, and lowered appetite for risky investments.
The last time the largest cryptocurrency fell as much was in June 2022, when it dropped by more than a third. This week alone, BTC has declined almost 18%, marking the steepest slide since the week ending Nov. 13 of the same year.
What to Know:
- Bitcoin is down 22% in February, and just under 18% this week.
- Both measures are BTC’s worst since 2022.
- The average purchase price of bitcoin this year is approximately $97,880, with investors facing an unrealized loss of more than 18%.
The decline leaves buyers purchasing bitcoin this year significantly underwater, with an average purchase price since January being $97,880. BTC fell below $80,000 earlier on Friday, resulting in average buyers being approximately 18% worse off. Historically, some unrealized losses at the start of the year are not unusual, often occurring when the price of bitcoin dips below the cost basis before recovering later in the year.
On-chain data indicates that realized losses increased as the price fell. Over the past three days, around $1 billion in realized losses have been recorded daily — the most since August’s yen carry trade unwind, when bitcoin dropped to $49,000.
Additionally, a staggering $1.1 trillion has been wiped off the crypto market cap, bringing the total down to $2.59 trillion, according to TradingView metrics.
