Largest BTC Dumps in History | Notion

Summary Table

Date	Drop	Main Cause
June 2011	99.9%	Mt. Gox hack
April 2013	83%	Mt. Gox crash, hack, tech faults
Dec 2013	50%	China’s first crypto ban
Dec 2017–2018	83%	ICO bubble burst, regulatory fears
March 2020	~50%	COVID-19 risk-off selloff
May–July 2021	~53%	China mining ban, leverage wipeout
May–Nov 2022	>50%	Terra/FTX collapse, Fed rate hikes
Oct 2025	>14% (days)	Mass liquidations, Fed moves, macro shock

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June 2011 – Mt. Gox Hack

Drop: 99.9% (from ~$32 to ~$0.01 for a moment)
Catalyst: The Mt. Gox exchange (then the world’s largest) was hacked, leading to panic selling and a massive price collapse.

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April 2013 – Mt. Gox Crash & Regulatory Pressure

Drop: 83% (from ~$260 to ~$50)
Catalyst: Massive trading volume froze Mt. Gox. Hackers further exploited this window, resulting in huge sell pressure and a total shutdown.

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December 2013 – China’s First Ban

Drop: 62% (from ~$1,241 to under $600 in weeks) triggering the bear market, with the lowest point of $165.68, -86% drop from ATH.
Catalyst: The People’s Bank of China banned financial institutions from handling Bitcoin, sharply curbing demand and confidence.

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December 2017–2018 – ICO Bust & Global Regulatory Crackdown

Drop: ~83% (from ~$20,000 to ~$3,200)
Catalyst: The bursting of the ICO bubble, regulatory scrutiny worldwide, mass retail capitulation, and risky leverage.

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March 2020 – COVID-19 Risk-Off Crash (“Black Thursday”)

Drop: Over 57% in 7 days (from ~$9,000 to ~$3,900), and -62% from the previous swing high.
Catalyst: Global markets crashed over pandemic fears; routine risk-off behavior liquidated many Bitcoin positions.

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May–June 2021 – China Mining Ban & Leverage Liquidations

Drop: ~55% (from ~$65,000 to ~$28,000)
Catalyst: China’s ban on crypto mining, Tesla suspending BTC payments, and heavy leverage led to cascading liquidations.

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