• Public crypto companies saw drawdowns of 90% or more in 2022.
• Bitcoin saw negative returns of around 65%, but the large public crypto firms did worse.
• Mining firms were especially hard hit, with most of them being 90% or more underwater for the period.
The crypto sector saw a difficult year in 2022, with public companies taking an especially hard hit. According to the year-end report from Arcane Research, most public mining companies saw drawdowns of 90% or more. This was worse compared to the negative returns of around 65% seen with Bitcoin, which was the worst performing asset of the year.
The deep red performance of public crypto companies was seen across the board. Even Microstrategy, the company whose stocks‘ main attraction is exposure to BTC through its large reserves, couldn’t perform comparably to the asset and observed a deeper year-to-date drawdown of about 74%. The market cap of the popular crypto exchange Coinbase has gone down by 87% this year, which has led to the firm being valued lower than meme coin Dogecoin.
Mining firms were particularly hard hit, with Core Scientific recording the worst performance of 99%. Core Scientific is one of the biggest Bitcoin mining companies, but due to these large losses, the firm had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier in the month. Other BTC miners also sustained major drawdowns this year, with most of them being 90% or more underwater for the period.
The reason behind the mining firms’ poor performance can be attributed to the increasing difficulty of mining Bitcoin. The rising competition for rewards has made it difficult for miners to remain profitable, with the rise in energy costs also playing a role. This has resulted in the widespread closure of mining operations and the withdrawal of capital from the sector.
Overall, 2022 has been a challenging year for public firms in the crypto sector. With Bitcoin and other public firms underperforming, it’s clear that the sector has yet to reach its full potential. Hopefully, as the industry matures, we’ll see a more stable landscape and improved performance for public companies in the sector in the years to come.