Ethereum cycles & crashes
Ethereum has run the same boom-and-bust shape as Bitcoin, with deeper falls: it lost more than 90% after the 2018 top. Below is every drawdown of 50% or more in the price history we hold — how deep it fell, how long the fall took, and how long until a new all-time high. History, not a forecast. Not financial advice.
Daily closing prices, 2017-11-09 to 2026-07-18. Peaks therefore read slightly below the intraday records quoted elsewhere, because a coin can spike and close lower the same day. All-time high and every drawdown below are computed from this series, not copied from anywhere.
Every major crash (50%+ drawdowns)
| Peak | Trough | Drawdown | Time down | To new ATH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08$4,831 | 2026-06$1,565 | -68% | 10 mo | not yet |
| 2021-11$4,812 | 2022-06$994 | -79% | 7 mo | 3.2 yr |
| 2021-05$4,169 | 2021-07$1,788 | -57% | 2 mo | 3 mo |
| 2018-01$1,396 | 2018-12$84 | -94% | 11 mo | 2.1 yr |
- The deepest fall on record here is -94%, from the 2018 peak.
- Getting back to a new high took 1.9 yr on average across 3 completed cycles, and as long as 3.2 yr.
- The current drawdown is still open: ETH has not yet reclaimed its prior high, so its recovery time is unknown rather than zero.
- These are price drawdowns measured from daily closes. Past cycles do not predict future ones.
Coverage starts 2017-11-09, which is as far back as free daily history reaches for ETH. ETH has traded since 2015, but those earlier years are not available at zero cost, so we do not show them. Every figure above is computed by us from that series. Percentages are price drawdowns, not market-cap drawdowns; for coins whose supply is still growing, the market-cap fall can differ from the price fall. Past cycles do not predict future ones. Educational only, not investment advice.