At the time of writing, Bitcoin was hovering just above $65,000, down again from a short-lived rally earlier this week.

The price represents a massive 48.5% drawdown from the all-time high of $126,272 last October, with no end in sight. We’re now in the fourth crypto winter since Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, was born in 2009.

Will this winter’s retreat prove to be as severe as the previous 77.3% drop recorded in November 2022? This is not the most urgent question. The large amount of assets wiped out — for the second time in less than four years, in each case about $2 trillion) — represents nothing less than an existential risk.

Google reports a record spike for “Bitcoin to zero” searches in February, and…