When you fare worse financially than Russia and Ukraine did this year, it’s not a good spot to be. But that’s precisely where Bloomberg has placed Bitcoin, ranking the digital currency as the worst currency investment of the year.

With Bitcoin losing 56 percent of its value year-to-date, the numbers bear this out. That’s only part of the story, however. But first the data.

Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $1,130 (on some exchanges) on November 25, 2013 before falling slightly to close the year. The Coindesk Bitcoin Price Index opened 2014 at $756.13 and today sits at just $332.25, a fall of 56.1 percent. By comparison the Ukrainian Hryvnia is down 47.83 percent year-to-date, while the Russian Ruble is down 41.82. (It turns out being an aging superpower, or that superpower’s undersized neighbor, are both unattractive positions in which to be.) These currencies are followed by those of Ghana, Argentina, and Norway.

There’s no question that it’s been a tough 12 months for bitcoin. But if you extend the timeline just a few more weeks, Bitcoin looks like a big winner, even at today’s seemingly depressed prices. Go back 83 extra days to October 1, 2013, when the Index was at $118.48, and Bitcoin would be up a whopping 181 percent. Go all the way back to January 1, 2013 and you’d see the digital currency has risen 2,375 percent from its opening day value of $13.41.

Sure, Bitcoin's declining price in 2014 has not been ideal, but it’s as much a reflection of the even more rapid rise that occurred in late 2013. If you normalize out that overzealous 90 day period, the rise in Bitcoin prices over a two or three year period looks far more steady and sustainable. Then again, if you remove some of the external events weighing down the price – events like the collapse of Mt. Gox and regulatory pressure in China – prices may still be in the stratosphere.

As has been said ad nauseam, Bitcoin is still a nascent financial instrument and one that does not yet offer the stability or institutional backing – or possible IMF and World Bank support – of major fiat currencies. In that way, it’s not a great store of value, at least today. But it doesn’t need to be to live up to its disruptive and innovative potential. An as some have pointed out, being considered among other more mainstream currencies at all could be cause for celebration.

Bitcoiners shouldn't be mad people calling #bitcoin '14's worst currency. They should be glad people are calling it a currency. — Paul Vigna (@paulvigna) December 23, 2014

Much of the value of Bitcoin lays in its transferability, its resistance to counterfeiting, its cross-border usefulness, and independence from nation-state interference, all of which make it desirable as a medium of exchange. Perhaps in time Bitcoin’s volatility will decline enough that it will be a good store of value as well. But that will take both more time, and broader adoption. There's also an entire area of innovation around the use of bitcoin's blockchain for non-financial purposes like tracking securing contracts or shares of stock. Many people are calling this area Bitcoin 2.0.

Despite the tough year for Bitcoin as a currency investment, the broader ecosystem has experienced a banner year. Consumer adoption, as measured by total wallets in existence, grew more than 31 percent (from 12 million to 15.8 million). Daily transactions grew a similar 29 percent (from 75,000 to 97,000). Over the same period, major merchants like Dell, Expedia, Overstock.com, TigerDirect, Time Inc., and others began accepting Bitcoin, making it more useful in day-to-day commerce. Bitcoin ATMs have also exploded in availability.

Moreover, more than $311 million worth of venture capital investment has flown into blockchain-related startups, suggesting a healthy level of optimism among entrepreneurs and investors alike about the long-term value of this technology. This also means we are likely to see a number of products and services enter the market in 2015, something that should have a positive impact on Bitcoin’s mainstream usability, and, potentially, its price.

Bloomberg is right to suggest that Bitcoin is not a great currency investment today, at least in the short term. There simply remain too many uncertainties to suggest otherwise. But in the long term, it seems highly likely that Bitcoin is here to stay and that those who invest early and demonstrate patience will be rewarded in the long-term. Who knows, we could soon be looking back on 2015 with a very different perspective.