Bitcoin Heads for Longest Losing Streak Since the 2018 Bear Market
The crypto market is deep in the red, and Bitcoin is leading the downturn. Selling pressure refuses to ease, and what looks like “just another bad month” on the chart is on track to become one of the most persistent bear phases in Bitcoin’s history.
As of today, Bitcoin is trading around $67,621, down about 1.70% over the past 24 hours. That single‑day move is modest by crypto standards, but the broader trend is what really matters: if February closes lower than it opened, Bitcoin will log its fifth consecutive red month. That would mark the longest uninterrupted losing streak for BTC in seven years.
The last time Bitcoin suffered such a brutal stretch was in 2018, when it bled for six straight months, finally bottoming in June of that year. That downturn became a textbook example of a full‑blown crypto winter-one many long‑time traders still reference when measuring today’s pain.
February’s performance gives little reason for optimism in the short term. The month is already down 13.98%, and unless there’s a sharp and sustained rally into the close, the candle will almost certainly print red. That would solidify a five‑month slide, confirming that this isn’t just ordinary volatility but a sustained bearish phase.
From a longer‑term perspective, the scale of the drawdown is striking. Measured from Bitcoin’s all‑time high reached in October 2025, the accumulated losses now stand at 52.4% over a period of 123 days. For comparison, during the infamous 2018 downturn, Bitcoin fell 56.26% over 153 days. In other words, the market is only 3.82 percentage points away from matching that historic collapse-yet it has done so in a shorter span of time.
That speed matters: a similar magnitude of losses compressed into fewer days typically signals higher stress, more aggressive selling, and less patient capital in the market. When prices slide this quickly, leveraged traders are forced out, risk appetite contracts, and even long‑term holders start to question their conviction.
The broader crypto landscape reflects this same weakness. Altcoins have followed Bitcoin lower, many posting even sharper percentage declines as liquidity dries up and traders rotate into stablecoins or exit the market entirely. What looks like “a Bitcoin problem” on the surface is, in reality, a systemic risk‑off move across digital assets.
For market participants, the current streak raises a central question: is this just another deep correction in a long‑term bull cycle, or the start of a prolonged bear market more akin to 2018?
Several factors complicate the picture. On one hand, a 50%+ drawdown is not unusual in Bitcoin’s historical cycles-even within broader uptrends. BTC has repeatedly staged aggressive recoveries after similar corrections, especially when underlying adoption and institutional interest continued to grow in the background. Long‑term holders often frame these periods as opportunities to accumulate at discounted prices.
On the other hand, the duration and consistency of the current losses-month after month of red candles-tend to damage sentiment more severely than a single violent crash. Investors become fatigued. Narratives built around “buying the dip” start to fail. Each bounce gets sold more quickly, and what were once seen as support levels are repeatedly broken, eroding confidence.
Technical analysts will pay close attention to where this losing streak ends. If Bitcoin manages to stabilize before matching or exceeding that 2018 drawdown of 56.26%, it could be framed as a “shallower” bear phase in percentage terms, even if it feels harsher due to speed and volatility. If, however, the slide continues beyond that threshold, the market may need to confront the idea that a longer, more grinding winter has arrived.
Fundamentals and macro conditions will likely decide which scenario plays out. Interest rates, liquidity conditions, regulatory headlines, and institutional flows all play a far larger role today than in 2018. Bitcoin is no longer a niche asset traded only on retail platforms; it sits within portfolios that also weigh equities, bonds, and other risk assets. When macro sentiment turns sour, Bitcoin can be sold not just because of “crypto fear,” but because it functions as part of a broader de‑risking strategy.
Psychology, though, remains as important as ever. A five‑month red streak tends to flush out speculative euphoria and expose who is genuinely long‑term and who was only there for fast gains. Historically, some of Bitcoin’s strongest multi‑year rallies have emerged from precisely this kind of exhaustion phase, once selling dries up and marginal sellers are gone.
For traders, risk management is crucial in such an environment. Chasing counter‑trend rallies can be dangerous when the dominant direction is still down, and historical analogs like 2018 show that “it’s already fallen so much” is not, by itself, a floor. For investors with a longer horizon, dollar‑cost averaging and strict position sizing may be more rational than attempting to time an exact bottom in a market that remains highly volatile.
It’s also worth remembering that streaks, by definition, end. No asset, even Bitcoin, moves in a straight line forever. Whether the catalyst is a macro shift, a regulatory surprise, renewed institutional demand, or simply seller exhaustion, the pattern of consecutive red months will eventually be broken. The open question is how much damage will be done-and how much value will quietly change hands-before that reversal arrives.
For now, the numbers tell a simple story: five months of losses likely, a drawdown of 52.4% from the October 2025 all‑time high, just 3.82 percentage points shy of the 2018 meltdown, and a crypto market that continues to bleed. Whether this chapter is remembered as a brutal but necessary reset in a long‑term uptrend, or as the start of another multi‑year crypto winter, will only become clear in hindsight.