Bitrabo Editorial
Interest in cryptocurrencies has fallen from its peak in 2021 to levels seen in late 2020, as Bitcoin sentiment has also declined. Google Trends data shows that current search scores for “crypto” are at 17, which is a significant drop from the reference point of 100 recorded in May 2021.
It is noteworthy that the two largest virtual currencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, have followed a similar trajectory while market sentiment remained neutral over the last month.
Low Market Sentiments Push Interest in Crypto Down
During the bull market, individual interest in digital assets reached a peak in May 2021. However, bearish events caused some people and investors to lose interest and confidence in the blockchain industry. There has been a consistent decline in search interest regarding crypto-related terms since May 2022, after the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. However, there was a mild spike in interest in early November 2022 during the FTX saga. But the latest decline in interest happened as Bitcoin consolidated around $28,000 over the past 10 weeks.
In a recent interview, CEO of Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz, described this price behavior of Bitcoin as Lackadaisical, adding that it is due to a lack of institutional interest. In a June 4 tweet, Coin Bureau Guy noted that the fall in interest coincides with reduced trading volumes on crypto exchanges. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index also confirmed these assumptions as the market sentiment has been at 53 (Neutral) for nearly a month. However, the steep decline in crypto searches wasn’t industry-wide. Some areas of the industry still maintain relatively high search volumes.
Search volumes on “decentralized finance” and “DeFi” increased in 2023, while searches for “memecoin” reached a peak in early May. The data shows that Nigeria has the highest score on crypto-related searches, while the lowest scores came from South American countries. On the contrary, search trends for artificial intelligence continue to increase as many believe AI is the latest tech trend.
Institutional Interest Remains High But Paused By The Crypto Winter
Meanwhile, a recent survey shows that while institutional investors are very interested in crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), buying has reduced. Despite the over-60% market decline from all-time highs, institutional interest in ETFs remains high.
In April, Brown Brothers Harriman’s 2023 Global ETF Investor Survey polled 325 institutional investors, financial advisers, and fund managers in the US, UK, Europe, and China. Nearly three-quarters of institutional investors claimed they were extremely or very interested in crypto ETFs. However, the bear market has dampened their hunger for these investments. Only a quarter said they plan to increase their portfolio in crypto ETFs over the next 12 months, which is a 6% fall from institutional interest in ETFs recorded in 2022.
Featured image from Pixabay and chart from TradingView.com