'Bitcoin Going to Zero' Google Searches Rise With Crypto Sentiment in the Dumps

In brief

• Google data shows that search queries about Bitcoin’s demise have reached their highest marks since 2022.
• The searches come amid declining crypto sentiment that has reached “Extreme Fear,” according to the Crypto Fear and Greed Index.
• Bitcoin is down around 0.6% on Thursday, now more than 47% off its October all-time high.

Search trends related to the demise of Bitcoin are on the rise as the top crypto asset continues its slide from its October all-time high mark above $126,000, recently changing hands around $66,561.  Data from Google Trends shows that worldwide queries for “Bitcoin going to zero” and “Is Bitcoin dead?” have spiked to their highest levels since 2022, as a viral X post pointed out this week. Those trends play a small role in determining the Fear and Greed index, a sentiment gauge that analyzes the feeling in the crypto market using variables like market volatility and social media posts.

Last week, the index reached 5, matching its lowest-ever mark—a feat not achieved since 2019. At that number, the market is sitting in “Extreme Fear.” Higher marks indicate traders in the market are feeling more greedy and are typically associated with higher asset prices.  But higher prices may not be on the way anytime soon. As of Thursday afternoon, predictors on Myriad Markets—a platform operated by Decrypt’s parent company, Dastan—believe Bitcoin is more likely to “dump” to $55,000 before it would “pump” to $84,000, giving the dump around 64% odds. Traders on Polymarket are even more confident that BTC will hit $60,000 before it reaches $80,000—placing odds on the move at 68%. On Kalshi, odds predictors have penciled in around a 36% chance that BTC will trade below $40,000 this year. But to zero? Experts don’t see it falling that far.

Recent analysis from Standard Chartered indicated that further pain, like a drop to $50,000, is the next move before a return to all-time highs. CryptoQuant analysts have suggested that Bitcoin’s “ultimate bear market bottom” is $55,000, a mark it may fall to before consolidating and moving higher.  Nevertheless, the loudest Bitcoin advocates, like Strategy co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, remain undeterred. Saylor’s firm continues to accumulate Bitcoin, adding to its $47 billion stash, and he recently said that he expects the firm will continue to do so “every quarter, forever.”  “If you think it’s going to zero, then we’ll deal with that,” Saylor said. “But I don’t think it’s going to zero.”  BTC is down 0.6% in the last 24 hours, about 47% off its October all-time high of $126,080.