Bitcoin (BTC) suffered its worst quarterly loss in 11 years as both price and activity on the blockchain declined over the past three months.
During the second quarter ended June 30, the price of bitcoin rose from about $ 45,000 at the beginning of the quarter to $ 19,884 by midnight EST on June 30, according to CoinGecko, which represents a loss of 56.2% according to the cryptocurrency analysis platform Coinglass.
This is the biggest price fall since the third quarter of 2011, when BTC fell from $ 15.40 to $ 5.03, a loss of more than 67% and worse than the 2014 and 2018 bear markets, when the price of bitcoin fell 39.7% and 49.7% respectively in the fourth worst of them.
The last quarter consisted of eight consecutive weekly red candles for bitcoin and a withdrawal of more than 37% in June, the heaviest monthly losses since September 2011 that saw a price fall of over 38% 5% per month.
There are also signs that investors are keeping their money in reserve – or withdrawing funds – during the downturn. Activity on the blockchain is falling with the number of bitcoin spot – the total volume of BTC transactions on the blockchain – falling more than 58.5% in just nine days, according to an analysis on June 29 from Arcane Research.
However, cryptocurrency markets are not the only ones entering. With rising inflation and rising interest rates, the traditional stock market was also hit hard, with some saying a quarter was “bad” for equities.
Charlie Bilello, CEO of financial advisory firm Compound Capital Advisors, shared a Twitter chart showing that the S&P 500 index was down 20.6% in the first half of 2022, the worst start to the year for the index since 1962, when the price yield down 26.5%.
S&P fell 20.6% in the first half of 2022, the worst year in a year for the index since 1962. $ SPX pic.twitter.com/OMcX7yfP5o
—Charlie Billello (@charliebilello) June 30, 2022
The S&P fell 20.6% in the first half of 2022, the worst start to the year for the index since 1962. $ SPX pic.twitter.com/OMcX7yfP5o
– Charlie Bilello (@charliebilello) June 30, 2022
Tough economic conditions have led to a large number of layoffs by cryptocurrency companies, including Gemini, Crypto.com, and BlockFi. Later, Bitpanda’s cryptocurrency and stock trading platform reduced its workforce by about 277 full-time and part-time employees.
Read also: 80,000 millionaires bitcoin was wiped out because of the cryptocurrency crash in 2022
The cryptocurrency sector is closely tied to the broader tech sector, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite Index falling nearly 22.5% in the second quarter.
‘Tech Layoff Tracker’ from the TrueUp job program reveals that more than 26,000 employees were laid off by 200 companies in June alone.
During the quarter, 307 layoffs affected more than 52,000 people, one of the largest by Tesla, Elon Musk’s company, which affected 3,500 people. Crypto-currency exchange Coinbase was mentioned twice, first for hiring and canceling job offers for almost 350 people on June 2, then for laying off 1,100 people from June 14.
