Biggest crypto crashes: the falls that defined the market
The essentials in 30 seconds
- The biggest crypto crashes are 5 falls: 2018, March 2020, May 2021, 2022 and October 2025.
- Bitcoin fell about 80% from December 2017 to November 2018, from $19,783.06 to below $4,000.
- The 2022 fall took Bitcoin from $67,566.83 to $16,216 and wiped out almost $45 billion at Terra in a week.
- On 10 October 2025 about US$19 billion of leveraged positions were liquidated.
- Each fall earns its rank on depth, speed and forced selling.
The biggest crypto crashes are 5 falls that each changed how the market works: 2018, March 2020, May 2021, 2022 and October 2025. This guide ranks them as of October 2026 and gives each its own detailed page. It sits inside the crypto crash history timeline, which places the same falls among earlier failures such as Mt. Gox.
On this page
Compare the EQOS Asia offers and request a 30-minute pre-diagnostic.
How do you rank the biggest crypto crashes fairly?
A fair ranking uses 3 yardsticks. Depth measures the fall from peak to low. Speed measures how many days it took. Forced selling measures how much borrowed money was closed by exchanges. A fall can rank first on one yardstick and last on another, so the guide shows all 3 side by side. These measures decide which falls defined the market, and the rest of this page follows the ranking they produce.
A fourth question separates market falls from company failures. A price drop hits every holder, while a failure such as FTX hits customers of one firm. The 5 falls below mix both kinds, and each page labels which one applies. This gives a reader a ranking that answers a specific question, such as which fall hurt holders most or which one hurt customers of a single firm.
Why does the 2018 fall rank among the biggest crypto crashes?
Bitcoin reached $19,783.06 on 17 December 2017. By November 2018 it traded below $4,000, an 80% decline, and its total value dropped under $100 billion. In September 2018 cryptocurrencies as a group had collapsed 80% from their January 2018 peak, which makes this the deepest fall on the list.
The 2018 fall took a full year, so it ranks low on speed and high on depth. It shows a bubble deflating as attention fades. The page on the 2018 crypto crash covers the run-up, the retail wave of 2017 and the low near $3,100 in December 2018. It also shows what a reader can check in any later bubble: whether prices rise faster than the number of new buyers.
What set the March 2020 and May 2021 crypto crashes apart?
Bitcoin dropped 50% in early 2020, when the pandemic hit every risk asset. The March 2020 page explains the COVID liquidity shock, where investors sold what they could sell, and it ranks high on speed. The fall started outside crypto and still reached it within days.
In 2021 Bitcoin peaked at $64,800 on 14 April and dropped to $30,000 on 19 May, after Tesla stopped accepting bitcoin on 12 May and Chinese authorities tightened rules. The May 2021 crypto crash page covers the leverage behind that fall, and it shows a drop of about half in 5 weeks. The 2020 and 2021 falls both came from outside the sector, which is why they sit together.
How did the 2022 crypto crash combine Terra, Celsius and FTX?
The 2022 fall combines a price drop and a chain of failures. Bitcoin went from $67,566.83 on 7 November 2021 to $16,216 on 28 November 2022, a drop of about 76%. TerraUSD broke its peg from 9 May 2022, and almost $45 billion of market capitalization disappeared within a week.
Celsius paused withdrawals on 13 June 2022, and FTX filed for Chapter 11 on 11 November 2022. The page on the 2022 crypto crash follows the sequence month by month and shows why it ranks first on contagion. One failure after another turned a market fall into a test of trust in intermediaries. A reader gets the cleanest view of how contagion works when firms lend to each other.
What made the October 2025 liquidation one of the biggest crypto crashes?
On 10 October 2025 a 100% tariff announcement on Chinese imports reached a market full of leveraged positions. CoinShares reports US$19 billion of officially reported liquidations. Bitcoin fell to a low of $104,782.88 across 10 and 11 October, more than 14% below its Friday high of $122,574.46.
This fall ranks first on forced selling and low on depth. Open interest in futures dropped from $175 billion to $125 billion in less than one day, per Amberdata. The page on the October 2025 crypto liquidation explains auto-deleveraging, thin order books and why leveraged positions closed so quickly. Liquidity providers pulled back, which left order books thin and widened every price move.
How long do crypto crashes last, and how did prices recover?
Duration differs widely across the 5 falls. The 2018 decline ran about 12 months, the May 2021 fall about 5 weeks, and the 2022 decline about 12 months. The guide on how long crypto crashes last compares the days from peak to low and from low to a new high for each.
Recovery followed different paths too. Bitcoin passed its December 2017 peak in the 2020 to 2021 cycle, set $73,664 on 13 March 2024 and reached $100,000 on 5 December 2024. The page on crypto recovery after a crash compares those rebounds and separates a price recovery from a recovery of confidence.
What do the biggest crypto crashes teach a decision maker?
Three lessons repeat across the 5 falls: borrowed money sets the speed, concentration sets the contagion and opaque balance sheets delay the truth. The guide on lessons from past crypto crashes separates what repeated from what changed, such as ETF access in January 2024 and tighter leverage rules after 2025.
A treasury can turn these lessons into 3 checks: size positions to a drawdown you can absorb, ask each venue for audited proof of reserves and review leverage on the market. The EQOS Asia method page explains how such checks become a score. This page is general information, not investment advice.
See also in this guide
Frequently asked questions
What was the biggest crypto crash ever?
It depends on the yardstick. For depth, the 2018 decline of about 80% in Bitcoin leads. For contagion, the 2022 chain of Terra, Celsius and FTX leads. For one-day forced selling, 10 October 2025 leads with US$19 billion of reported liquidations. Each yardstick has its own page in this series.
How many big crypto crashes have there been?
This guide covers 5 falls: 2018, March 2020, May 2021, 2022 and October 2025. Smaller corrections happened in between, and the first major failure was Mt. Gox in 2014. The crypto crash history page places all of them on one dated timeline.
Which crypto crash fell fastest?
March 2020 and May 2021 were the fastest price falls: Bitcoin dropped 50% in early 2020 and about half in 5 weeks in 2021. October 2025 was the fastest for forced selling, since open interest fell from $175 billion to $125 billion in less than one day.
Can a past crypto crash predict the next one?
Past crashes show mechanics, not dates. Leverage, concentration and opaque balance sheets repeated in several falls. A reader can test these 3 conditions in today’s market, as of October 2026, and treat the result as a probability. This page is general information, not investment advice.
Test your knowledge
1. Which fall ranks first on forced selling?
- 2018
- October 2025
- March 2020
Show the answer
October 2025.
2. How far did Bitcoin fall from December 2017 to November 2018?
- About 80%
- About 5%
- About 20%
Show the answer
About 80%.
3. Which 3 yardsticks does the guide use?
- Color, size and age
- Name, logo and fee
- Depth, speed and forced selling
Show the answer
Depth, speed and forced selling.
4. What did Terra lose within a week in May 2022?
- Almost $45 million
- Nothing
- Almost $45 billion of market capitalization
Show the answer
Almost $45 billion of market capitalization.
5. What does a price drop affect, compared with a failure like FTX?
- Only one firm’s customers
- Every holder
- Only miners
Show the answer
Every holder.
About the author
Stéphane Jambu
President, EQOS Forecast Asia
Stéphane Jambu leads EQOS Forecast Asia and works as a consultant in e-commerce, search visibility, and AI. LinkedIn profile
Sources: EQOS Asia method page (eqos-asia.com/method.html), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_bitcoin, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency_bubble, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_(blockchain), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTX, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celsius_Network, coinshares.com/at/insights/knowledge/billions-in-liquidations-what-happened, consulted on 23 October 2026. Page updated on 23 October 2026.