Retail attention in crypto has faded into the background. Google Trends shows global search interest for “crypto” and “cryptocurrency” sitting near 2025 lows this week, even as Bitcoin trades just under $90,000 after briefly breaking the level again.
Search data flags a 2025 floor for crypto interest
According to Google Trends, worldwide searches for “crypto” printed around 26 on the 0-100 scale in late December. Coverage from ForkLog, Cointelegraph and FinanceFeeds pegs “cryptocurrency” queries in a similar 26-27 band, only a couple of points above this year’s low near 24. ForkLog notes that the previous trough came in late April, when Bitcoin slumped to roughly $76,000 after Donald Trump’s new import tariffs hit risk assets. Cointelegraph and FinanceFeeds both report that U.S. search interest has already tagged its own 1-year low at 26.
That backdrop contrasts sharply with the market’s price action. Bitcoin printed a record above $125,000 earlier this year before the October 10-11 wipeout erased close to $20 billion in leveraged positions and crushed many altcoins by over 90%. Cointelegraph Market structure never fully recovered for retail after that shock.
Bitcoin back near $90K, sentiment still in ‘extreme fear’
Despite that history, spot BTC quietly clawed back toward five figures again. At press time, Bitcoin trades around $89,400 on Crypto.com, up about 1.7% over the last 24 hours, after briefly reclaiming $90,000 over the weekend. Crypto.com The same page lists a 7-day high near $90,300 and a 2025 all-time high above $126,000, which leaves current price roughly 41% below the peak.
Sentiment tells a different story. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index reads 24 out of 100 today, squarely in “Extreme Fear,” after printing similar levels all week. Alternative.me ForkLog points out that the gauge has spent more than two weeks pinned in that zone, echoing the panic that followed the October flash crash. ForkLog
Historically, retail FOMO pushed both Google search scores and price to peak together. In 2017, Google Trends for “Bitcoin” hit 100 as BTC neared $20,000, and similar spikes reappeared around the 2021 top, as multiple studies and data desks have documented. CoinCodex Today, that relationship has broken. Price still trades near the upper end of the current $80,000-90,000 range, while search interest sits at a fraction of past cycle highs.
Analysts read an institution-heavy rally
Analysts who follow retail behavior say the collapse in search activity reflects who is actually trading this tape. FinanceFeeds argues that 2025’s late-year grind runs mainly on institutional flows and derivatives desks, with retail sidelined after back-to-back drawdowns and failed memecoins. FinanceFeeds
Market commentary across outlets now paints a similar picture. Cointelegraph highlights how Trump-themed tokens and other high-beta plays dropped more than 90% from peak, then stayed there, which poisoned casual appetite for the sector even as Bitcoin stabilized in the $80,000s. Cointelegraph That damage lines up with what on-chain and derivatives data have shown all year: ETF flows, option structures and futures basis drive marginal price moves, not a new wave of first-time buyers.
“Close to no retail interest”
Trader Mario Nawfal captured that mood in a post that now anchors most reports on the topic. In a December 27 thread, he wrote on X:
“There is close to no retail interest in crypto right now … None of my normie friends or family ask me anything about crypto anymore.”
He tied that silence directly to the Trump and Melania memecoin saga, which left many late entrants holding near-worthless bags. His post, which you can read here, has become a reference point for desks tracking the retreat of small-ticket flows.
Bearish consensus, but contrarian risk
Sentiment analyst Darkfost, whose work ForkLog cited, argues that “investor consensus has shifted to the bearish side” based on media tone, X data and other indicators. ForkLog He points out that similar stretches of entrenched pessimism in mid-2024 and early 2025 preceded sharp reversals once positioning got crowded.
For now, though, the data stack is clear. Global Google search scores near 26-27. A Fear and Greed print of 24. Bitcoin back below but close to $90,000. Price says late-stage bull market. Public curiosity says winter never really ended.
