Crypto’s no good, very bad year

By just about any measure you can imagine, it has been a rough year for cryptocurrency enthusiasts. The overall market cap of the crypto world has gone from $2.2 trillion at the start of the year to $867 billion in mid-December, a 60% decline. 

But things sure didn’t look that dire back in January.

While it’s hard to believe, it was less than a year ago that we saw the “Crypto Bowl,” with exchanges shelling out up to $7 million for 30 seconds of airtime to woo new customers. There was reason for that optimism.

Bitcoin and Ethereum’s Ether both had hit all-time highs in 2021. And even meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu were doing okay, thanks in part to boosting by enthusiasts like Elon Musk and Mark Cuban. By March, though, the faith of the crypto bros faced its first test.

Hackers took $625 million in cryptocurrency from the Ronin network. And FTX and Binance also suffered attacks. Those brazen heists challenged the narrative that blockchain projects were safe from attacks.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was an odd source of comfort for the community, as crypto proved an effective way to lend financial support to the smaller nation. In just one month, Ukraine boosters managed to raise nearly $64 million via crypto donations.

That confidence in crypto didn’t last long, though. By April, the Terra stablecoin fell below its $1 peg, tumbling as low as 35 cents. That impacted the LUNA crypto, which lost 96% of its value in a day. It was the start of crypto winter. And, so far, there’s no sign of a thaw.

U.S. regulators are calling for stricter controls on cryptocurrencies, while simultaneously showing a real lack of understanding about the digital tokens. And the European Union, in October, passed the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCAR) bill, which will attempt to regulate the digital assets market starting in 2024.

By October, the Securities and Exchange Commission was going after the celebrity endorsers of tokens, with Kim Kardashian one of the highest-profile targets. The influencer was ordered to pay $1.26 million for blogging about a crypto without disclosing she was being compensated to do so.

Then, in November, there was FTX. One of the largest crypto exchanges suffered a liquidity crisis and ultimately filed for bankruptcy, ousting its well-known founder Sam Bankman-Fried. The new CEO, who oversaw the liquidation of Enron, was aghast at the state of the company when he took over, saying in a bankruptcy filing, “I have over 40 years of legal and restructuring experience. I have been the Chief Restructuring Officer or Chief Executive Officer in several of the largest corporate failures in history. . . . Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here.”

The cascading effect of FTX’s collapse and allegations of misappropriation of funds rocked an already volatile sector—and prices kept falling. All told, crypto lost $1.3 trillion in value this year.

Even Bitcoin saw a major slide, closing at $16,717.17 on December 27. Compare that to the token’s all-time high of $68,990.90 on November 8, 2021—or its price a year prior, $50,640.42. Ethereum slipped to $1,212.79, well off its high of $4,865.57 and a far cry from the same day in 2021, when it was worth $4,037.55.

There’s really no sugarcoating how bad the year was for crypto investors or enthusiasts. But sometimes, looking at how cryptocurrencies have rebounded from big drops in the past can be a salve.

If you’re still among the faithful, here’s how Bitcoin and Ethereum have closed on December 27 for the past nine years. Some years have seen gains. Others have seen drops that are akin to what we experienced this year.

It won’t make the losses any less painful, but it could offer a little hope for the future.

2013

Bitcoin: $735.07

2014

Bitcoin: $315.86

2015

Bitcoin: $422.82

Ethereum: $0.8564

2016

Bitcoin: $933.20

Ethereum: $7.17

2017

Bitcoin: $15,838.47

Ethereum: $762.84

2018

Bitcoin: $3,654.83

Ethereum: $116.58

2019

Bitcoin: $7,290.09

Ethereum: $127.21

2020

Bitcoin: $26,272.29

Ethereum: $682.64

2021

Bitcoin: $50,640.42

Ethereum: $4,037.55

2022

Bitcoin: $16,717.17

Ethereum: $1,212.79