Bitcoin opens Q3 in historical red zone after rare losing first half

Bitcoin began the third quarter after falling in both the first and second quarters of 2026, a pattern seen only twice before. According to CoinDesk, BTC fell 22.2% in Q1 and 14.09% in Q2, and was trading just above $59,000 on Wednesday. The only other years with consecutive losing quarters to start the year were 2018 and 2022, when the second half failed to recover. CoinDesk cited record outflows from U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs over the past month, low on-chain active users and rotation into AI stocks.