Fifty days into 2026, bitcoin is off to its worst begin to a monetary 12 months on file, based on Checkonchain knowledge. The asset is down 23% 12 months so far, having fallen 10% in January and an additional 15% in February.
Bitcoin has by no means beforehand recorded back-to-back declines in January and February, based on Coinglass knowledge. Whereas there have been double digit drops in January in years reminiscent of 2015, 2016 and 2018, every of these was adopted by a optimistic February. If losses maintain, bitcoin can also be on observe for its weakest consecutive month-to-month efficiency since 2022.
Checkonchain knowledge exhibits that in a typical down 12 months, the common index studying is 0.84, 50 days in, a benchmark that merchants usually use to gauge cyclical drawdowns. Whereas bitcoin is at present at 0.77, underscoring the dimensions of the drawdown.
The weak spot follows a 17% decline in 2025, a publish election 12 months. Traditionally, publish election years have tended to outperform election years and have outperformed up years on mixture, making the current underperformance stand out additional.
