BTC records its worst quarter in 11 years

The second quarter of 2022 was the worst for BTC in the last 11 years. In the period, the biggest cryptocurrency on the market recorded a devaluation of more than 58%, going from $46,750 on April 1 to $19,280 at the time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap.

BTC has not seen such a sharp quarterly decline since Q3 2011, when BTC dropped 66.62% – from $15.40 to $5.14.

Just in the last 30 days, that is, in the month of June, the price of BTC has dropped by almost 40%. Furthermore, compared to the maximum price the cryptocurrency reached in November, around $69,000, the drop is already over 71%.

Terra collapse and crisis in last quarter

This expressive price drop comes amid the slowdown in the cryptocurrency market. The months of May to June, above all, brought a string of news and events that impacted BTC and the broader crypto market.

In the month of May, for example, there was the collapse of the Terra ecosystem (LUNA) and the stablecoin UST – which affected the entire market.

Back in June, digital asset lender Celsius shook the market after disrupting customer withdrawals; decision that is still in force.

In a ripple effect, this rippled through the markets, affecting companies like BlockFi – which needed the bailout of cryptocurrency exchange FTX – and crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC).

Last month, 3AC failed to meet margin calls (financial guarantee required in operations that involve risk) and was liquidated at $400 million.

In addition this week, a court based in the British Virgin Islands ordered the liquidation of the company, appointing global consultancy Teneo Restructuring to handle the process.

At the same time, traditional financial markets were also shaken last month amid rising inflation and interest rates. This affected, above all, investments considered to be risky, “contaminating” the crypto market as a whole.

BTC price prediction

In a scenario of little optimism, predictions for the future of the largest cryptocurrency in market cap differ.

Fundstrat strategists, for example, who are generally more bullish on BTC, reversed their short-term price predictions for the asset. They believe that the price of BTC could still drop to $12,500 if the scenario does not change.

Envisioning something even worse, bestselling author “Rich Dad Poor Dad” Robert Kiyosaki said he will buy more BTC if the digital currency drops to $11,000.

On the other hand, Bitfury CEO Brian Brooks believes the asset price will rise soon. This is because the BTC network continues to be highly utilized. JPM analysts also take a similar view, indicating that BTC may have already bottomed out.