Drawdown Threshold
Showing 16 drawdowns exceeding 20% from all-time high.
Drawdown From All-Time High
How far below its previous all-time high Bitcoin has been at each point in time. The deeper the red, the bigger the crash.
BTC Price (Log Scale)
Logarithmic scale shows that even the worst crashes are small relative to Bitcoin's long-term trajectory.
Drawdown Depth Comparison
Side-by-side comparison of each crash's peak-to-trough decline. The orange bar is the current active drawdown.
All Drawdowns
| # | Peak | Trough | Depth | Fall | Recovery | Full Cycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nov 7, 2010 $0.34 | Dec 12, 2010 $0.23 | -32% | 35d | 35d | 70d |
| 2 | Feb 13, 2011 $1.09 | Apr 10, 2011 $0.77 | -29% | 56d | 14d | 70d |
| 3 | May 15, 2011 $8.82 | May 22, 2011 $6.61 | -25% | 7d | 14d | 21d |
| 4 | Jun 12, 2011 $28.80 | Nov 20, 2011 $2.35 | -92% | 161d | 1.3y | 1.7y |
| 5 | Apr 7, 2013 $143.61 | Jul 7, 2013 $70.27 | -51% | 91d | 105d | 196d |
| 6 | Dec 1, 2013 $1,119 | Jan 18, 2015 $210.34 | -81% | 1.1y | 2.1y | 3.2y |
| 7 | Mar 5, 2017 $1,267 | Mar 26, 2017 $966.72 | -24% | 21d | 35d | 56d |
| 8 | Jun 11, 2017 $2,958 | Jul 16, 2017 $1,930 | -35% | 35d | 21d | 56d |
| 9 | Sep 3, 2017 $4,583 | Sep 17, 2017 $3,583 | -22% | 14d | 21d | 35d |
| 10 | Dec 17, 2017 $19,141 | Dec 16, 2018 $3,253 | -83% | 364d | 2.0y | 3.0y |
| 11 | Feb 21, 2021 $57,540 | Feb 28, 2021 $45,138 | -22% | 7d | 14d | 21d |
| 12 | Apr 11, 2021 $60,205 | Jul 18, 2021 $31,797 | -47% | 98d | 91d | 189d |
| 13 | Nov 14, 2021 $65,467 | Nov 20, 2022 $16,292 | -75% | 1.0y | 1.3y | 2.3y |
| 14 | Mar 31, 2024 $71,334 | Sep 8, 2024 $54,842 | -23% | 161d | 63d | 224d |
| 15 | Dec 15, 2024 $104,299 | Apr 6, 2025 $78,214 | -25% | 112d | 42d | 154d |
| 16 | Oct 5, 2025 $123,513 | Jun 28, 2026 $59,532 | -52% | 266d | Active | n/a |
Fall = peak to trough duration. Recovery = trough to new ATH. Full Cycle = peak to new ATH.
Methodology
Weekly BTC/USD closing prices sourced from Blockchain.info (Aug 2010 - Sep 2014) and Yahoo Finance (Sep 2014 - present). A drawdown begins when BTC falls below its previous all-time high and ends when it establishes a new all-time high.
Overlapping or nested drawdowns within a single cycle are merged, so only the deepest trough counts. Recovery time measures from the deepest trough to the next new ATH.
Past recovery patterns do not guarantee future recoveries. Bitcoin could theoretically suffer a permanent decline. Position sizing should account for this tail risk.
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