Today marks the longest bitcoin bear market in history, 411 days in figures

We are now officially on the longest down bear market ever recorded. After reaching a record high of nearly $ 20,000 in mid-December 2017, the value of Bitcoin (BTC), the flagship cryptocurrency, fell over the course of 411 days. The ecosystem of cryptocurrency has so far lost about $ 700 billion.

As in January 2018, the market capitalization of all crypto-currencies exceeded $ 815 billion. Currently, the value of all crypto-currencies combined is slightly below the 115 billion mark.

This is in particular the longest and longest depreciation Bitcoin has suffered in its 10 years The previous record of downward movement of bitcoin prices was between late November 2013 and mid-January 2015, when the value of BTC went from about $ 1,100 to only $ 200 after the fall of the largest cryptographic exchange of the time, Mt Gox.

"Really in trouble" to acquire capital

Due mainly to the protracted bear market of crypto-currencies, blockchain start-ups have often had to reduce their activities. In August 2018, Meltem Demirors, head of strategy at CoinShares, a cryptocurrency management company, said in an interview with CNBC that the crypto industry was "really struggling" at acquire capital.

In fact, a large number of cryptography service providers have revealed that they have had to lay off staff and make further budget cuts due to lack of funding. Coinsquare, a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, recently announced that it has laid off 27% (40) of its employees.

Make "hard choices"

According to the local BetaKit news channel, Robert Mueller, the chief operating officer of Coinsquare, and Ken Tsang, the chief financial officer, were both fired. Commenting on CoinSquare's decision to downsize, Martin Hauck, Talent Leader of the Exchange, said:

Many similar companies in our industry have had to make tough choices in recent months, as has Coinsquare. The company made the decision to part with a number of talented members of the Coinsquare team.

On January 8, 2019, ShapeShift announced that it would lay off about 37% of its staff. ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees said the downsizing was "a deep and painful reduction, like many cryptographic companies during this latest bear market cycle."

Voorhees, one of the early Bitcoin enthusiasts, explained that ShapeShift had "become too fast" and that "thereafter [the firm] learned to manage a team of 10 people, "they had already added staff to their payroll.

Voorhees acknowledged that ShapeShift had "become too fast" and that "when [the company] learned to manage a team of 10 people, "they had already hired more employees. He added that society "understood better how to organize people, but not as fast as people".

Voorhees also pointed out that ShapeShift management made the crucial mistake of not diversifying its invested capital. He noticed:

As a company, our biggest and worst financial decision is the same: to adopt a substantial exposure to cryptographic badets. A large part of our balance sheet is composed of it.

Remaining bullish

Despite the less than stellar performance of the cryptocurrency ecosystem over the past 411 days, many prospects remain optimistic as there is much to expect. The Lightning Network (LN), the Bitcoin Layer 2 Expansion solution, has exceeded the capacity of 600 BTC, while the CBOE has resubmitted a proposal to list the VanEck-SolidX Bitcoin ETF.

In addition, Fidelity Investments, a financial services giant with more than $ 7.2 trillion in badets under management (MAU), has revealed that its cryptography and custody platform already retains the services of selected clients. Bakkt, the cryptocurrency company of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), is expected to launch later this year. The platform is designed to help retail investors gain exposure to space, while facilitating the adoption of cryptocurrency.