Max Drawdown
Risk MetricMax Drawdown is the largest peak-to-trough price decline in a given period — the worst-case loss for someone who bought at the exact high and held through the lowest point.
Max Drawdown measures the maximum observed loss from a peak price to a subsequent trough before a new peak is reached. It is expressed as a negative percentage: a max drawdown of −80% means the price fell 80% from its highest point before recovering.
To recover from an 80% drawdown, you need a 400% gain. To recover from a 90% drawdown, you need a 900% gain. This asymmetry is why drawdown is one of the most practically important risk metrics for long-term investors — it tells you how bad the pain could get and how far you need to travel to get back to break-even.
Crypto drawdowns routinely reach 80-95% even for established assets like Bitcoin. Among ISO 20022 coins over the 1-year window through 2026, max drawdowns range from around −50% (QNT) to −80% (ADA, IOTA). Comparing max drawdown across coins identifies which held up best during the most recent market correction.
Crypto Relevance
Max Drawdown is arguably the most emotionally relevant risk metric for ISO 20022 investors — it quantifies the "this is fine" moment when a coin you're holding is down 70% and you're wondering if it will recover.
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Join ISO 20022 investorsRelated Terms
Annualized Volatility (Sigma)
Annualized Volatility (sigma) measures how much a price fluctuates over a year, calculated as the standard deviation of daily log returns scaled by √365.
Sharpe Ratio
Sharpe Ratio is a measure of risk-adjusted return calculated as (annualized return − risk-free rate) ÷ annualized volatility.
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Last reviewed: 2026-05-17