A Crypto Winter refers to an extended bear market in the cryptocurrency space — characterised by sustained price declines of 70–90% from peak values, collapsed trading volumes, project failures, and industry layoffs. Major crypto winters occurred in 2014, 2018, and 2022.
Celsius Network was a centralised crypto lending platform that offered high yields on deposited crypto — attracting over 1.7 million customers and $12 billion in assets. In June 2022, Celsius froze all withdrawals amid a liquidity crisis and filed for bankruptcy.
Terra was an algorithmic stablecoin protocol that spectacularly collapsed in May 2022, wiping out approximately $40 billion in value within days. Its UST stablecoin lost its peg and LUNA became worthless, triggering contagion across the entire crypto market.