Bitcoin drawdown from all-time high (AUD)
How far Bitcoin trades below its running all-time high in AUD, day by day. Days when BTC closes at a new ATH register 0%; the gap fills downward during corrections and bear markets. The chart covers every daily close from January 2013. As of 8 October 2026 Bitcoin sits 37.0% below its all-time high of A$187,780 (13 August 2025). Hover any point for the exact price, the ATH at that time, and the percentage drawdown. In the three completed bear markets, the fall from peak to low took roughly 12 to 14 months.
Chart
Bitcoin's percentage decline from its running all-time high in AUD, day by day from January 2013. The dashed gold line at 0% marks days at a new ATH. Below: every cycle's drawdown trough. Hover any point for the exact price, ATH at that time, and drawdown percentage.
What is Bitcoin's current drawdown from ATH?
The current drawdown is shown in the stats grid at the top of the chart. Interpretation reference:
- 0% to -10%: Bitcoin near or at ATH. Strong cycle position. Typical of bull-market progression.
- -10% to -30%: Moderate correction. Common during bull markets - every cycle since 2014 has had multiple -20%+ corrections inside the broader uptrend.
- -30% to -50%: Significant correction. Late-cycle distribution or early-bear territory.
- -50% to -70%: Deep bear market. Cycle-bottom approaching.
- -70%+: Cycle-bottom zone. All three completed cycles bottomed between -74% and -83%.
Bitcoin's deepest historical drawdowns
| Cycle bottom | Trough date | Drawdown depth | Trough BTC AUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-2015 bear | 14 January 2015 | -83.2% | A$210 |
| 2018 bear | 15 December 2018 | -82.4% | A$4,401 |
| 2020 COVID crash | 12 March 2020 | -70.1% (from the 2017 high) | A$7,473 |
| 2022 bear | 21 November 2022 | -74.2% | A$23,595 |
| Current decline (from August 2025 high) | 30 June 2026 (lowest so far) | -54.9% | A$84,675 |
The first two cycle bottoms landed within a point of each other, at -83% and -82%, despite a twentyfold difference in price (A$210 in 2015, A$4,401 in 2018). The 2022 low was shallower at -74%. The March 2020 figure looks deep only because Bitcoin had not yet regained its December 2017 high; it was a macro-driven crash inside a recovery, not a cycle top followed by a bear market. The current decline from the August 2025 high is shown in the last row and moves with the market.
How long does Bitcoin take to recover?
Recovery time = days from cycle-bottom to new all-time high. The pattern has been compressing across cycles:
- 2015 → 2016: About 23 months from the 14 January 2015 low (A$210) to 23 December 2016, the first close above the November 2013 high of A$1,246.
- 2018 → 2020: About 23 months from the 15 December 2018 low (A$4,401) to 20 November 2020, the first close above the December 2017 high of A$25,033.
- 2022 → 2024: About 15 months from the 21 November 2022 low (A$23,595) to 28 February 2024, the first close above the November 2021 high of A$91,345.
The first two recoveries took almost exactly the same time. The third was about eight months quicker, helped by the run-up to US spot ETF approval in January 2024. Three recoveries is too small a sample to call a trend, so treat the faster 2024 recovery as one data point rather than a rule.
Methodology
- Drawdown calculation. For each daily close, drawdown = (close / running_max - 1) × 100. The running max is the highest close from the start of the data (1 January 2013) through that day.
- Data source. Daily BTC/AUD closes from January 2013: Bitstamp BTC/USD converted at the daily AUD/USD rate, with Kraken's native BTC/AUD market for the last two years. Refreshed automatically every day.
- Recovery times. Measured as days from the lowest close of each bear market to the next 0% drawdown day (a new ATH).
- Static-first. If a price source is unreachable, the previous data file is kept and the chart renders the last good data.
Related tools
- Bitcoin Yearly Highs and Lows (AUD) - per-year peak and trough.
- Bitcoin Monthly Returns Heatmap (AUD) - month-by-month colour-coded returns.
- Bitcoin Mayer Multiple (AUD) - cycle position via price ÷ 200DMA.
- Bitcoin Risk Metric (AUD) - 0-1 cycle score.
- Drawdown Recovery Calculator - the math of recovering from any drawdown size.
- Charts Dashboard - all cycle indicators on one page.
Frequently asked questions
As of 8 October 2026, Bitcoin closed at A$118,282, 37.0% below its all-time high close of A$187,780 on 13 August 2025. The stats grid above the chart colour-codes the reading: green within 10% of ATH, yellow 10-30% below, red more than 30% below. The lowest point of the current decline so far was A$84,675 on 30 June 2026, 54.9% below the high.
In AUD terms the deepest drawdown in the data is -83.2%, on 14 January 2015, when BTC closed at A$210 against a November 2013 high of A$1,246. The December 2018 low was close behind at -82.4% (A$4,401 on 15 December 2018), and the FTX-era low on 21 November 2022 was -74.2% (A$23,595). The March 2020 COVID crash took BTC 70.1% below its 2017 high on 12 March 2020, because the price had not yet regained that peak. The current decline bottomed at -54.9% on 30 June 2026 so far.
Measured from the bear-market low to the next close above the old high: the 14 January 2015 low (A$210) took about 23 months, to 23 December 2016. The 15 December 2018 low (A$4,401) also took about 23 months, to 20 November 2020. The 21 November 2022 low (A$23,595) took about 15 months, to 28 February 2024, when BTC closed above the November 2021 high of A$91,345. The first two recoveries took almost exactly the same time; the third was about eight months faster.
Of 5,029 daily closes since January 2013, Bitcoin closed at a new all-time high on 245 days (4.9% of the sample). Put the other way, it spends about 95% of its time below its running high, even in bull markets. The 'days at ATH' card in the stats grid shows the live count.
The usual convention is a fall of 20% or more from the peak. Bitcoin has had many of those inside bull markets. The declines that ended cycles went much deeper: -83% into January 2015, -82% into December 2018 and -74% into November 2022. A -50% drawdown is not proof of a cycle bottom on its own. In July 2021 BTC fell 51% from its April high in the middle of a bull market, and the current decline reached -54.9% in June 2026. The stats grid counts every day at or below -50%.
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