Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Saturday, Jul 12, 2025

0:00
0:00

The Crypto Bear Market Could Last Two Years, Top Investors Say

Cryptocurrencies are famous for their wild price swings, and in their short history, they’ve gone through multiple cycles of scorching-hot summers followed by frigid, long winters. The last downturn began in early 2018 and lasted about two and a half years.
Over the past three months, with inflation spiking and recession concerns spreading, bitcoin has dropped from a high of $48,000 to roughly $21,000. Today, some top investors think we’re in for another painful, extended period of low prices.

“The next two years are going to be really rough,” says Avichal Garg, a managing partner at Electrical Capital, a crypto investment fund with more than $1 billion in assets. His fundamental views on the industry’s promise haven’t changed. “New software developers are coming in, and we're seeing more and more high-quality founders. We see Web2 executives from Facebook and Google coming in at a faster clip,” he says. But one big factor has backers particularly nervous: “It's the first time that crypto and Web3 has existed in a macroeconomic bear-market environment, where there's potentially a recession happening next year,” Garg says. (Bitcoin was created in early 2009, shortly before the Financial Crisis ended.)

Alex Pack, a managing partner at Hack VC, a $200 million (assets) crypto venture fund, agrees. “One to two years is what everyone is saying ... And that's what we are telling our portfolio companies–make sure you have two years of runway.”

Beyond broader economic worries and the recent collapse of “stable coin” TerraUSD, major doubts have spread about crypto lending platform Celsius. After it recently froze withdrawals, many are questioning its solvency. “Always be skeptical, even in a bull market, when any of these platforms are promising really high interest rates,” says Linda Xie, co-head of crypto fund Scalar Capital. “Sometimes this sounds too good to be true, and that's because it is. There may be a lot of leverage and high-risk activity going on behind the scenes.”

Despite the many reasons for apprehension, crypto investors seem to be more optimistic so far than they were during the last downturn of 2018 to 2019. “There was a genuine worry among many investors and builders that crypto as an asset class wouldn’t come back from its 2017 highs,” Pack says. That fear evaporated in December 2020, when bitcoin topped $20,000. Pack and Xie think the industry is in a stronger place now because there are more cryptocurrency use cases and users. For example, digital art NFTs (nonfungible tokens) have attracted millions of buyers. “Decentralized finance” applications, such as software that lets people earn interest on deposits, have grown steadily, although some have also flamed out in a spectacular fashion.

What needs to happen for prices to bounce back? The stock market needs to recover, some say. “We would need to see equities turn around before real capital flows back to bitcoin,” says Joshua Lim, a managing director and head of derivatives at crypto prime brokerage Genesis. Tarun Chitra, a digital asset investor and the CEO of crypto risk-modeling startup Gauntlet, has a similar view: “I expect crypto and growth equities to continue to be correlated for 12 to 18 months.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Germany Seeks Taliban Deal to Deport Afghan Migrants
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Qatar Airways Clears Backlog of Passengers Following Missile Threats
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
G7 Leaders Fail to Reach Consensus on Key Global Issues
Mass exodus in Tehran as millions try to flee following Trump’s evacuation order
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
Iran Conducts Ballistic Missile Launches Amid Heightened Tensions with Israel
Iran Signals Openness to Nuclear Negotiations Amid Ongoing Regional Tensions
Shock Within Iran’s Leadership: Khamenei’s Failed Plan to Launch 1,000 Missiles Against Israel
UK Deploys Jets to Middle East Amid Rising Tensions
Exiled Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi Urges Overthrow of Khamenei Regime
×