Bitcoin has discovered gravity, after just a year of riding high in the cryptocurrency universe.
As of Monday morning, Bitcoin was down 83% to $3,391 from its peak on Dec. 17, 2017 of $19,870, according to Coindesk.
Bitcoin’s plummet is just a hair better than the S&P 500’s 86.1% loss during the first 34 months of the Great Depression.
The S&P, of course, did manage to recover those losses, although it took 22 years. Bitcoin may be reinvigorated as well—but no one thinks its going to happen anytime soon.
In fact, unlike the Dow, Bitcoin Monday is actually having a decent time, climbing more than 5% after a series of bad days earlier this month.
“Today is an opportunity to look back at all the people who told you that this was going to be a new world, that you were missing out, or that you didn’t understand the new paradigm taking place, and cut them out of your life,” says Clement Thibault, senior analyst at Investing.com.
“Bitcoin hasn’t changed in the past year and it remains the same asset … [but] I don’t see Bitcoin reaching new highs in 2019. … It takes time to rebuild the trust and appeal needed to push the asset forward,” Thibault said.
Even as Bitcoin closed in on $20,000, skeptics in December sounded a warning. A survey of economists at the time found 96% believed the surge was driven by speculation, rather than a realistic look at the cryptocurrency’s challenges.