The bulk of the crypto hype seems to be over and the market is at a desperate crawl to get back to its moderately stable position in early November. New investors whom are only in this to make a quick dollar may be pulling their hair out if they haven't already pulled their fiat currency out of the market. The longest downtrend in bitcoin history has been 9 months. We can expect to see something similar, or longer, for the current downtrend. These two downtrends are sustained by different factors but the catalysts for causing them are somewhat similar.
Here are some the reasons for the current downtrend (This is certainly not an extensive list!):
Dec 2017 – All major news outlets run a bitcoin story causing a price surge.
Dec 2017 – New law requiring traders to record all crypto transactions may have scared some people away from the market.
Jan 2018 – Old investors sell their bitcoin because their sell goals are realized
Feb 2018 – Tax season. Some people may have cashed out completely to avoid future tax or pulled out fiat currency to pay their tax debt.
Feb 2018 – Major holders of bitcoin cash out hundreds of million dollars.
If there is any hope of a decent recovery, there are some steps you can take to b position yourself for greatness. You must assess your finances
There is a hell of a lot more occurrences that have aided in the devaluation of bitcoin and other crypto currencies. There are actually "experts" who believe bitcoin will reach $30,000 by the end of 2018. If these coin prices begin to rally the way they did in December 2017, $30,000 may not sound so crazy. To ensure your stake in a possible bitcoin spike while minimizing your risk now, you should stop buying bitcoin if you own some and just sit on it. If you do not own any bitcoin, buy very low quantities of it every week, bi-weekly, or monthly. When you feel like you've spent what you are willing to lose, stop buying and store your coins away.
Altcoin traders are in a fishy spot, as well, because a lot of traders have their money spread out between several coins. Most coins have seen massive declines in price since bitcoins initial decline in January 2018. Miners are in the absolute worst spot during this downtrend. Miners may now be sitting on equipment that is too expensive to run and too expensive to sell.