"Crypto Winter" Is Here. Bitcoin Crash Signals Tough Times, Say Experts

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Bitcoin's price plunged by more than 80% to as low as $3,100.

There are few things scarier for investors than a bear market -- unless you're involved in crypto, in which case a winter is worse.The chilling term refers to a sharp slump, followed by a drop-off in trading and months of market doldrums -- a phenomenon that memorably befell the crypto market in 2018. Bitcoin's price plunged by more than 80% to as low as $3,100 from the end of 2017 through December of the following year, a period characterized by the boom-and-bust of initial coin offerings and several big banks shelving their plans to start cryptocurrency trading desks. Bitcoin wouldn't reach a new high until December 2020, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Memories of 2018 are sparking fears that a repeat is playing out now after the world's largest cryptocurrency plummeted 50% from its most recent high of almost $69,000 in November. The crypto universe has shed more than $1 trillion in market value on growing conviction that the Federal Reserve is set to start ratcheting back the ultra-accommodative policy settings that fueled a boom in risk assets. The pullback has hit all corners of the crypto ecosystem, from Bitcoin to memecoins and publicly listed crypto exchanges. While the collapse has been rattling enough on its own, it has spawned an even bigger concern that the pain may persist for many months, according to UBS.

“There's this question of how do we characterize that and the nearest analogy is probably 2018, which is this idea of a crypto winter,” James Malcolm, head of foreign exchange research at UBS, said by phone. “It looks likely to be a fairly difficult and potentially prolonged period and therefore, the crypto winter analogy is quite good.