{"id":10986,"date":"2026-04-03T18:13:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coinsvalue.net\/blog\/bitcoin-stumbles-hard-the-worst-q1-in-years-raises-big-questions\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T18:13:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:13:11","slug":"bitcoin-stumbles-hard-the-worst-q1-in-years-raises-big-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coinsvalue.net\/blog\/bitcoin-stumbles-hard-the-worst-q1-in-years-raises-big-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin Stumbles Hard: The Worst Q1 In Years Raises Big Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bitcoin ended the first quarter of 2026 at $68,200 after falling 22% over the period, its weakest opening three months since 2018. The slide erased an early push higher that had briefly carried the cryptocurrency close to $95,000 before the market turned lower.<\/p>\n

A Sharp Turn After A Strong Start<\/h2>\n

The quarter did not begin quietly. Bitcoin<\/a> opened the year at a little past $87,000 and moved higher in the early stretch, showing enough strength to reach nearly $95,000. That momentum did not last. The price later sank to about $60,000 on February 6, marking a fast shift in tone after a strong start to the year.<\/p>\n

From there, the market kept swinging. Bitcoin managed a brief rebound to around $70,000 later in February, but the recovery faded. Selling pressure returned as tension in the Middle East spread through risk markets, and Bitcoin slipped again, touching about $63,000 before the quarter ended.<\/p>\n

Coinglass data<\/a> used in the report shows how unusual the quarter was when set against recent history. Bitcoin fell nearly 50% in the first quarter of 2018, then posted smaller swings in the years that followed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It gained 8% in 2019, lost 10% in 2020, surged over 100% in 2021, slipped 1.40% in 2022, and then rebounded with gains of 70% in 2023 and 65% in 2024. The pattern broke again in 2025 with an 11% decline before this year\u2019s deeper drop.<\/p>\n

Geopolitical Stress Kept Traders On Edge<\/h2>\n

The latest decline was tied in the report to rising unrest<\/a> in the MidEast. That pressure did not stay confined to one trading session. It lingered through March and helped push Bitcoin into a choppy finish for the quarter, with rapid price changes making it harder for the market to settle.<\/p>\n

The report also pointed to fresh selling at the start of the second quarter. After US President Donald Trump signaled a tougher stance and warned of further military action in the weeks ahead, Bitcoin fell 3% in 24 hours to $66,700. Ethereum<\/a>, BNB, and XRP<\/a> also traded lower by about 3% to 4% as the broader crypto market softened.<\/p>\n

April Brings A Different Seasonal Pattern<\/p>\n

Despite the weak finish to March, the report noted April has often been a better month for Bitcoin. Coinglass data cited in the report shows an average April gain of 11.90% and a median return of 5% over the years, which has kept some traders looking for a rebound even after the rough quarter.<\/p>\n

Featured image from Meta, chart from TradingView<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bitcoin ended the first quarter of 2026 at $68,200 after falling 22% over the period, its weakest opening three months since 2018. The slide erased an early push higher that had briefly carried the cryptocurrency close to $95,000 before the market turned lower. A Sharp Turn After A Strong Start The quarter did not begin…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[56,61,70,1665,36,33],"class_list":["post-10986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency-market-news","tag-bitcoin","tag-btc","tag-btcusd","tag-coinglass","tag-crypto","tag-cryptocurrency-market-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinsvalue.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinsvalue.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinsvalue.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinsvalue.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinsvalue.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coinsvalue.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinsvalue.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinsvalue.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinsvalue.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinsvalue.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}