Bitcoin “Going to Zero” Searches Surge to Post‑FTX Levels as Price Slides 50% from All‑Time High
Google Trends data show a renewed wave of retail anxiety about Bitcoin, while institutional investors continue to add to their holdings. The divergence highlights a growing gap between public sentiment and professional market activity.
Spike in Search Activity
Google’s worldwide search term “Bitcoin going to zero” has climbed to its strongest point in the five‑year window tracked by Google Trends. The interest curve mirrors the sharp decline in Bitcoin’s price, which fell from a record‑approaching $126 000 reached on 6 October 2025 to roughly $66 500 at the time of writing (a drop of just under 50 %).
The surge in curiosity comes at the same moment the Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index slid into the “Extreme Fear” zone, registering a reading around 9 – a level last seen during the Terra collapse and the FTX fallout in 2022.
The last comparable search surge occurred in November 2022, when the FTX exchange halted withdrawals and Bitcoin briefly sank to the $15 000 range.
What’s Driving the New Wave of Fear?
Narrative intelligence – a metric compiled by crypto‑analytics firm Perception that scans more than 650 media outlets – indicates that today’s anxiety is less about internal crypto‑industry failures and more about broader macro‑economic worries amplified by a single bearish voice.
- Mike McGlone (Bloomberg) has become the most cited commentator in recent weeks, repeatedly warning that Bitcoin could tumble to the $10 000 mark and likening the market to the 2008 financial crisis.
- This commentary has been echoed across a range of crypto news sites, creating a feedback loop that appears to be fueling the search spike.
Perception’s founder, Fernando Nikolic, notes that the “Bitcoin‑to‑zero” narrative is a blend of price‑drop panic, lingering concerns over quantum‑computing threats to cryptographic security, and a pessimistic macro outlook.
Institutional Activity Runs Counter to Retail Panic
While retail interest in a Bitcoin collapse is rising, data on institutional flows tells a different story:
- Sovereign wealth funds – notably from the United Arab Emirates – have been increasing their exposure to Bitcoin through exchange‑traded funds.
- Corporate treasuries such as Strategy are continuing to accumulate BTC alongside ETH, signalling confidence in the asset’s long‑term value proposition.
Perception’s sentiment analysis shows that professional media sentiment bottomed out on 5 February but has been on an upward trajectory for the past two weeks. In contrast, the retail‑driven “Bitcoin going to zero” searches peaked later in mid‑February, suggesting a lag of roughly 10‑14 days between professional sentiment stabilization and public anxiety.
Macro Uncertainty and Quantum Concerns
The surge in Bitcoin‑related fear coincides with record‑high levels on the World Uncertainty Index – a metric that measures the frequency of “uncertainty” mentions in country reports compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The index now exceeds peaks recorded during the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2020 COVID‑19 shock.
Research linked to the index suggests that spikes in global uncertainty often precede slower economic growth as firms delay investment and hiring decisions. This broader climate of doubt may be intensifying the bearish narrative around Bitcoin.
Quantum‑computing fears have also lingered since late 2025, although Google Trends indicate that searches for “Bitcoin quantum” peaked in November 2025 and have been on a gradual decline. Analysts view quantum threats as an amplifier of existing bearish sentiment rather than an independent catalyst.
Key Takeaways
- Search interest in “Bitcoin going to zero” has reached its highest level since the post‑FTX panic of November 2022, aligning with a near‑50 % price correction from recent all‑time highs.
- Fear metrics (Fear & Greed Index and World Uncertainty Index) are at extreme levels, reflecting heightened macro‑economic anxiety.
- Narrative drivers: A single bearish analyst (Mike McGlone) and amplified media coverage appear to be the primary catalysts for the recent spike in retail fear.
- Institutional behavior diverges from retail sentiment, with sovereign wealth funds and corporate treasuries continuing to buy Bitcoin despite the prevailing panic.
- Timing lag: Retail searches for a Bitcoin collapse tend to lag professional media sentiment by about two weeks, indicating that the public’s worst‑case fears may be reacting to already‑stabilizing market narratives.
The data presented here are sourced from Google Trends, Coingecko price records, the Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index, the World Uncertainty Index (FRED), and analysis by Perception. Readers are encouraged to verify figures independently and consider the broader macro‑economic context when evaluating cryptocurrency market dynamics.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-going-to-zero-searches-spike-extreme-fear?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound
