The landscape around Ethereum is even worse, with the red streak going for six months.
The positive start to 2026 was quickly erased, and bitcoin began to lose value rapidly, reaching new local lows of $60,000 in early February.
Although it recovered some ground since those 15-month lows, it still ended the month in the red with a painful double-digit decline. This made it five in a row.
February Deep in Red As Well
It was almost impossible to imagine the current situation in early October. At the time, bitcoin’s price was riding high, charting fresh peaks at over $126,000, and the community was anticipating even more records during the so-called ‘Uptober.’ The reality, though, was far different and brutal.
On October 10, the cryptocurrency market experienced its worst single-day liquidation event, with more than $19 billion wrecked as prices tumbled. As many analysts claimed after that pivotal day, something in the market’s structure broke, and it was never the same.
Bitcoin started to chart frequent losses and dumped to a five-digit price territory by the end of the year. It ended 2025 in the red, making it the first post-halving year to do so. January began on the right foot, but the rejection at $98,000 resulted in another nosedive. Thus, January saw losses of just over 10%.
Another massive crash occurred in early February, pushing bitcoin south to its lowest level since October 2024 at $60,000. Although it rebounded and finished February at around $65,000-$66,000, it still ended the month with a 15% decline. This made it the fifth consecutive month in the red for the first time since 2018.
Bitcoin Monthly Returns. Source: CoinGlass
Ethereum Goes a Step Further
Data from Cryptorank shows that the landscape around the world’s largest altcoin is even more painful. ETH has been in the red for six months in a row. Moreover, it has been in the green only three out of the past 15 months.
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January and February were quite violent, with a 17.7% decline during the first month of the year and a whopping 19.6% drop in the second. This is the worst monthly streak for ETH since 2018, when it was in the red for seven consecutive months.
ETH is currently fighting to stay above $2,000 after dipping below that level on numerous occasions in the past month.
Ethereum Monthly Performance. Source: Cryptorank
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