Price Drawdown from ATH

Percentage decline of Bitcoin price from its all-time high — always 0% or negative, measuring how far price has fallen from its peak

Property	Value
Category	Market Data
Unit	%
Resolution	1d
Assets	BTC
Tier	Basic
API Endpoint	GET /v1/prices
Field	price_drawdown

Overview

Price Drawdown from ATH measures the percentage decline of Bitcoin's price from its all-time high (ATH). The metric is always non-positive: 0% when price is at its ATH, and increasingly negative as price falls further below the peak.

This is one of the most intuitive metrics for understanding market cycles. Deep drawdowns often coincide with capitulation events, while approaching 0% signals euphoria and potential overextension.

Formula

$$\text{Drawdown} = \frac{\text{Close} - \text{ATH}}{\text{ATH}} \times 100$$

Where:

• Close is the daily closing price
• ATH is the running all-time high: $\text{ATH}_t = \max(\text{Close}_1, \text{Close}_2, \ldots, \text{Close}_t)$

Values are always $\leq 0$: reaching 0% only when price sets a new ATH.

Interpretation

• 0%: Price is at its all-time high
• -20% to 0%: Mild correction, common in bull markets
• -40% to -20%: Significant correction, often a bear market signal
• -60% to -40%: Deep bear market territory
• Below -60%: Historically rare capitulation zones, often near cycle bottoms
• Rising toward 0%: Recovery phase, price approaching previous ATH

Historically, Bitcoin has experienced drawdowns exceeding -80% during major bear markets (2014-2015, 2018-2019, 2022). Recoveries back to 0% mark the start of new bullish phases.

Use Cases

• Cycle positioning: Identify where we are in the market cycle by drawdown depth
• Capitulation detection: Extreme drawdowns (below -70%) often signal capitulation and potential bottoms
• Risk assessment: Monitor drawdown depth to gauge current market risk
• Recovery tracking: Track progress toward a new ATH during recovery phases
• DCA timing: Some investors systematically increase purchases during deep drawdowns as a risk-managed entry strategy

API Usage

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.blocklens.co/v1/prices?start_date=2024-01-01&end_date=2024-12-31&limit=365"

Related Metrics

• Price — BTC market price
• Price OHLC — Daily Open-High-Low-Close price data for Bitcoin — rendered as candlestick charts showing full intraday price range and direction
• MVRV — Ratio of market value to realized value across all holders
• Market Cap — Total market cap