Data from Google Trends and other search engines indicates that global retail interest in cryptocurrencies has plummeted to near yearly lows as 2025 concludes. Global searches for the term "crypto" on Google have crashed from over 50 at the start of December to just 25-26, hovering just above the yearly low of 24. Searches for "Bitcoin" stand at a six-month low of 19 globally, just one point above 2025's low of 18 recorded in mid-June.
This trend is not isolated to Google. In South Korea, where Naver is the dominant search engine, searches for "Bitcoin" have dropped from a mid-month high of 46 to just 15 on December 28, with "cryptocurrency" experiencing a similar slump. Crypto advocate and podcaster Mario Nawfal highlighted the sentiment, stating 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."
The decline in search interest coincides with sluggish Bitcoin price performance, dashed hopes for a year-end "Santa rally," and a broader market still reeling from historic volatility. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index remains locked in the "fear" zone, currently at a reading of 28, having hit a yearly low of 10 (indicating "extreme fear") in November following October's flash crash.
Nawfal and other commentators point to the dramatic collapse of certain memecoins as a key factor eroding retail confidence. He specifically cited the "Trump/Melania memecoin drama," noting that retail investors "lost a lot of faith in the space." Coins like Official Trump (TRUMP) have seen their market capitalization slump from over $9 billion in January to under $1 billion in late December.
Despite the bleak short-term indicators, some industry leaders see a path to recovery. Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise Asset Management, told CNBC he believes Bitcoin is poised for a long-term rebound, though he cautioned that meteoric rises are unlikely in the near term. "I think the four-year [Bitcoin price] cycle is being replaced by a 10-year grind," Hougan said, pointing to larger structural forces like the emergence of crypto ETFs, progressive US regulation, and the growth of stablecoins and tokenization. He expects the market to be up in 2026, with "strong returns, lower volatility, [with] some ups and downs."
