Bitcoin has lost 22.3% of its value since the beginning of 2026

Bitcoin may end the first quarter with the worst performance in the last eight years: since the beginning of the year, the flagship of the crypto market BTC $68,543.00 Mezo Wrapped BTC -1.91% Market capitalization $38.83 million VOL. 24 hours $1.27 billion has dropped by 22.3%, and the price has fallen by about $ 20,000 to current lows of about $ 68,000. According to CoinGlass, this brings the market closer to the weakest Q1 since the bearish 2018, when the drop in three months was almost 50%.

The analysts specify that Bitcoin has declined in seven of the thirteen first quarters, with the most recent examples being 2025 with a loss of 11.8% and 2020 with a drop of 10.8%. The biggest failure occurred in 2018, when BTC lost 49.7% in the first three months of the year. Crypto expert Daan Trades Crypto on Sunday called the first quarter «known for its volatility» and added that, according to historical dynamics, what happens in Q1 «usually does not carry over» to the subsequent period.

Separately, it is noted that BTC has only twice had two unprofitable first quarters in a row — in the bearish years of 2018 and 2022. In comparison, Ethereum ETH $1,984.79 Bridged Ether (StarkGate) -3.40% Market capitalization $45.28 million VOL. 24 hours $1.16 billion has recorded a «red» Q1 only three times in the last nine years, and the current period may be the third worst in history for it, with losses of 34.3%.

Bitcoin may also end both January and February in the red for the first time in history. In January, the asset lost 10.2%, and in February, the drop is currently 13.4%. The text emphasizes that to avoid a «red» February, bitcoin needs to return above $ 80,000.

Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research, told Cointelegraph that the current decline in BTC amid persistent global economic uncertainty «reflects a normal corrective phase rather than a structural break» in the asset’s long-term trajectory. He added that if macroeconomic factors persist, short-term pressures may increase, but historically Bitcoin has shown a recovery in the following months, particularly amid institutional adoption and the dynamics of the halving cycle. It is also reported that BTC has entered its fifth consecutive week of declines and has fallen by 2.3% to $ 68,670 over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.