‘Crypto winter’ fears send chills to battered bitcoin faithful

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. — Reuters

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 US$3,100 (RM12,982) 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.