Bitcoin’s Struggles in June 2022

Bitcoin (BTC) is on track for its worst month in three years, falling 22% as President Donald Trump’s tariffs on major U.S. trading partners raise concerns of faster inflation, a reduced chance of interest-rate cuts, and a lowered appetite for risky investments.

The last time the largest cryptocurrency fell this much was in June 2022, when it dropped over a third. This week alone, BTC fell almost 18%, marking the steepest decline since the week ending Nov. 13 of the same year.

The slide has left investors who bought bitcoin this year severely underwater. The average purchase price since January is $97,880, while BTC dropped below $80,000 earlier Friday, putting average buyers 18% worse off.

Historically, this situation isn’t entirely unusual; investors often face unrealized losses at the start of the year when BTC’s price drops below their purchase costs before recovering later.

On-chain data shows that realized losses have escalated as prices fell. Over the past three days, about $1 billion in realized losses have been recorded daily, the highest since August’s yen carry trade unwind, when bitcoin fell to $49,000.

Moreover, a staggering $1.1 trillion has been wiped off the crypto market cap, bringing the total down to $2.59 trillion, according to TradingView metrics.