Bitcoin has crashed more than 50% five times in its history. Each time, the next cycle set a new high. Here's the specific checklist for what to do, and what not to do, during the next crash.
READING TIME: 7 MIN
The checklist is short: don't sell. Keep DCA-ing if you can. Check that your position size was correct before the crash. Read the bear cases. Wait. That's the whole guide.
Bitcoin has crashed more than 50% from its peak 🔍 verify×DON'T TRUST, VERIFYClaim: Bitcoin has had at least four cycles with 70%+ drawdowns.Verify at: CoinGecko BTC historical ↗ · Bitcoin Price History (internal)2011, 2013-15, 2017-18, 2021-22.:
After every one of these crashes, Bitcoin eventually set a new all-time high. That's not a promise about what happens next. It's the historical record.
The people who sold at the bottom of each crash turned an unrealized loss into a realized one. The people who held, and especially those who continued DCA-ing, recovered and then some.
Seriously. Close it. Checking the price every hour makes you feel like you're doing something. You're not. You're just experiencing the loss repeatedly.
Ask yourself honestly: "Did I size this so that if Bitcoin goes to zero, my financial plan is unchanged?" If yes: nothing to do. Wait. If no: the crash revealed that you were overexposed. Consider reducing to a size you can hold through a 90% decline. See Bitcoin Allocation.
If you're going to reduce your position, do it with a clear head, with a plan. Not because the number on the screen is making you feel sick.
Is it intact? Is it separate from your Bitcoin position? If your emergency fund is in Bitcoin: this is the lesson about why that was wrong. See Emergency Fund.
A crash is the best time to DCA if your situation allows it. You're buying the same asset at a lower price. The people who doubled their DCA in December 2018 at $3,200 were rewarded by Bitcoin's subsequent history.
Not to scare yourself. To engage honestly with whether your conviction was well-founded. See Bitcoin Skeptic.
Every crash comes with reasons why this one is the final one. Regulatory ban, technical flaw, institutional exit, better technology. Check whether the criticism is new (protocol-level threat, evaluate specifically) or old (price too high, speculation, no intrinsic value, which have been made at every Bitcoin price level ever).
If you're in a crash and genuinely reconsidering whether you should own Bitcoin at all: that's a legitimate question. The crash is giving you real information about how you feel when money is at risk.
If the answer is: this is too much emotional stress for the potential return, that's valid. Size down to something you can hold through this without it affecting your sleep or your relationships.
If the answer is: I've thought about this, I believe in the thesis, the position size was right, then the crash is just noise. Wait.
For every person who asks "has anyone ever held through a crash and come out ahead?" show them the specific data. Pick any 4-year period in Bitcoin history and show what happened to a DCA investor who held through the crash. Run the specific period at Bitcoin DCA Backtest.
Last updated 2026-04-22. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.