Btc slides as Bitcoin and Ethereum post their worst start to the year in a decade
btc is off sharply this year, with Bitcoin down almost 24% from Jan. 1 to around $67, 000 and Ethereum down about 34% to about $2, 000, a slide that comes after market turmoil tied to tariff threats and a one-day liquidity implosion.
Btc and Ethereum hit their worst year-to-date marks
Despite modest gains on a recent Friday, both cryptocurrencies are having historically bad starts to the year: Bitcoin down almost 24% from Jan. 1 to now around $67, 000, and Ethereum down about 34% to about $2, 000. Fortune’s analysis of CoinGecko’s public data — data that dates back to mid-2013 for Bitcoin and mid-2014 for Ethereum — shows those are the worst year-to-date performances on record.
Flash crash on Oct. 10 erased more than $19 billion in leverage
The year-to-date plunges follow a flash crash on Oct. 10 when traders saw more than $19 billion in leverage evaporate after President Donald Trump issued another set of tariff threats against China; the one-day implosion was the worst liquidation event ever tracked by CoinGlass. Bitcoin has fallen more than 46% since early October.
Stocks nudged higher while metals surged
The crypto market has diverged from broader economic gains. Since January, the S&P 500 is up about 0. 4% and the Dow Jones has risen 2. 3%, while gold has rocketed about 17% and silver has jumped about 14% — even though metals recorded a sudden drop almost three weeks ago.
Exchanges and lenders show strain
The industry’s troubles have shown up across firms: crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Gemini reported poor results for their fourth quarters, and BlockFills, a crypto lender and hedge fund, suspended customer withdrawals earlier in February. BlockFills is now looking for a buyer and has losses of more than $75 million, a report in CoinDesk said; a spokesperson for BlockFills declined to comment.
Voices on the downturn and the view forward
Market observers have labeled the period a new Crypto Winter. Danny Nelson, a research analyst at Bitwise, said, "We’re certainly in a Crypto Winter" and added, "You can tell by how investors react to good news. (They don’t. )" Nelson also said, "Crypto’s reality is getting stronger" and that "These changes are going to last well beyond the current downturn. " Tom Lee, cofounder of analysis firm Fundstrat and an Ethereum booster, said in a recent interview, "We’re really close to the end. " The monthslong decline has left many in crypto puzzled because previous bear markets followed explicit collapses like the fall of FTX in November 2022, and there has been no obvious catalyst for the recent downturn even as the industry enjoys unprecedented acceptance among U. S. regulators and Wall Street leans further into the asset class.
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Ben Weiss is a crypto reporter at Fortune. Unclear in the provided context what the next confirmed market milestone or scheduled event is.
