The Bitcoin (BTC) price crash is reigniting speculation that the major cryptocurrency is demise, according to Google Search Trends.
Google searches for “Bitcoin dead” increased in the week ending Friday, June 18 and likely reached an all-time high. Google Trends tracks interest in search terms over time, assigning scores from 1 to 100 based on the total number of user queries. Data is anonymized, categorized by subject and aggregated by location.
Google searches for “dead bitcoin” hit all-time highs over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/oDXNqGEeIL
— Alex Kruger (@krugermacro) June 20, 2022
“Bitcoin dead” scored 100 for the period June 12-18 based on preliminary data reflected by the dotted line. The last time the search query scored 100 was in December 2017 or thereabouts.
Google search results reflect the spike in anxiety for cryptocurrency markets after weeks of relentless asset price selling. Bitcoin’s downward spiral, now in its seventh month, may have been triggered by the Federal Reserve’s massive policy shift, which put downward pressure on risky assets. The implosion of the Terra ecosystem and its related contagion effects were also a contributing factor. Adverse market conditions have also led to credible speculation that major industry players such as Celsius and Three Arrows Capital are facing insolvency.
Related: Bitcoin hits over 13,000 ‘wholecoiners’ in past seven days
The mainstream media has written hundreds of Bitcoin obituaries over the years; their experts applauded the latest market meltdown as proof that BTC is not a viable asset. Bitcoin is said to have “died” 45 times in 2021 alone – a year in which the digital asset hit multiple records.
