One year after Bitcoin's historic record, will crypto soon take off again?

A little over a year ago, Bitcoin exceeded $126,000 for the first time. Since then, the queen of cryptocurrencies has lost a good part of its value. At the end of a trying year 2026, can Bitcoin start to rise again? We take stock of the issue.

Remember, on October 6, 2025, Bitcoin passed the $126,000 mark for the first time in its history. Behind this record were the index funds (ETFs) dedicated to Bitcoin, launched in the United States 21 months earlier, which attracted billions of dollars in capital. Thanks to them, institutional investors, such as pension funds and asset managers, have gained massive exposure to crypto. At the same time, the Trump administration increased signals favorable to cryptocurrencies, a sign that the war against the crypto industry was coming to an end.

The euphoria was short-lived, as is often the case with cryptocurrencies. On October 10, 2025, just four days after the record, the announcement of new US customs duties against China caused the financial markets to plunge. The collapse triggered a cascade of liquidations. More than $19 billion in positions have been eliminated in cryptocurrency derivatives markets. It was the start of a long downward phase for king Bitcoin.

Throughout 2026, Bitcoin continued to lose value. The first quarter set the tone, with a drop of around 19% in three months. Bitcoin then fell back below $59,000, losing more than half of its value compared to its record. The month of June has also established itself as the worst month in the history of Bitcoin in 4 years.

The bad news dragging the price down has accumulated. The conflict between the United States and Iran has sent oil prices soaring and reignited inflation fears, driving investors away from riskier assets. In this context, Bitcoin ETFs have continued capital flight. More than 8 billion dollars were lost. This year, crypto has also suffered increased competition from artificial intelligence. Under everyone's lips, generative AI now monopolizes a large part of investments. In October, the record Binance hack, with more than $6 billion stolen, once again weighed down the price of crypto. At the beginning of November, Bitcoin is still moving very far from its historical record.

This is far from the first time that Bitcoin has been on a roller coaster ride. During previous cycles, Bitcoin had fallen by 77% to 85% from its peaks, without this calling into question the value of the cryptocurrency. This time, the decline is much less brutal than in previous cycles. Thanks to institutional investors, the crypto market has stabilized considerably.

Machine-translated from French