Cryptocurrency investors weathering sharp market downturn.

Temperatures outside may be in the 90s right now, but investors in the world of cryptocurrency are weathering a very different kind of season.

The digital currency world is experiencing a downturn those in the field refer to as a "crypto winter," and some experts are saying this one might be far more painful than similar downturns since crypto first became a big thing internationally with the introduction of Bitcoin, now the world's largest cryptocurrency, in 2009.

A crypto winter is a stretch when the prices of Bitcoin and what is now thousands of other cryptocurrencies worldwide contract and remain low for an extended period. Two previous such winters have occurred in the recent past, according to an article from the World Economic Forum: one in 2014 and another in 2017-18 after an extended bull market for crypto in 2017.

The idea that cryptocurrency isn't doing well right now might seem strange to casual observers who don't follow the market but remember stories from late 2021 when a months-long bull market for crypto caused Bitcoin to reach its highest value ever of more than $69,000 in November. Other cryptocurrencies even ones that started off as a joke like Dogecoin experienced similar sharp rises in value.

The crypto markets took off because buyers worldwide flush with cash from COVID-19 stimulus payments, pay raises and increased savings decided to put their funds into crypto. This time, not only tech-savvy individuals got into the market, but many more investors crossed over from the traditional markets as well.

Then it all fell apart, starting back in the spring. How badly? The value of Bitcoin as of July 18 was $22,073.50.

A precipitous fall

Cryptocurrency, once hoped to be immune to inflation and other factors that roil the traditional markets, proved that it had a weak immune system. What caused it? A fatal trifecta of spiraling inflation, worldwide economic upheaval due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, and rash decisions all around -- from individual crypto investors all the way up to major crypto hedge funds.

"Prior to 2019, the crypto economy was more correlated with the price movement of Bitcoin and not necessarily the larger financial market," said Connor Borrego, founder and product manager at Missouri-based digital marketing firm Unipro who has done extensive work with digitally based properties like NFTs and cryptocurrency. "Now crypto is a lot more connected with the larger markets, and things hurting the stock...