There will always be negative events in any financial market. 'A Bad year for bitcoin' isn't defined purely by one or two negative events, or the fact that bitcoin values haven't grown as much as you would hope (which is still around 39% since January 1st - an above average result for any financial market).
Considering that bitcoin is becoming more widely accepted, 2016 could be seen as a success regardless of the change in bitcoin value - for example, you can now spend your bitcoin at Dunkin Donuts. This is a massive win for the acceptance of bitcoin into society.
Just because your expectations weren't met, doesn't mean it's a "bad" year already. There are a lot of other factors that needs to be given consideration and I can make a long list of it. See, this year, despite the finex event, actually is a good one because a lot happened and there was so much movement.