In a notable divergence from historical patterns, online public interest in Bitcoin significantly waned throughout 2025, even as the cryptocurrency experienced extreme price volatility and set new all-time highs. Data from Google Trends and social media analytics reveals a steady decline in both search queries and social chatter, suggesting a potential maturation or shift in market dynamics.
Google search volume for "Bitcoin" trended downward for most of 2025, with only two modest uplifts in the second half of the year. This decline followed a sharp, temporary spike in November 2024 after the election victory of U.S. President Donald Trump, which saw searches surge by approximately 280%. However, this event-driven interest proved short-lived.
Parallel to the search decline, conversation on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) also contracted. Posts containing the word "Bitcoin" fell 32% in 2025 to 96 million, down from around 141 million in 2024. Volume peaked in January 2025 during Trump's inauguration and the pardon of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, and again in March when the Trump administration established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Interest waned thereafter, remaining low even during Bitcoin's rally to a new all-time high of $126,080 in early October and the subsequent market crash on October 10th that wiped out over $19 billion in leveraged crypto positions.
Despite the overall drop in public chatter, prominent Bitcoin advocates remained active. Data shows MicroStrategy's Michael Saylor made 1,268 Bitcoin-related X posts (97% positive/neutral), Blockstream's Adam Back posted over 11,450 times, and the Human Rights Foundation's Alex Gladstein had 9,445 Bitcoin-related posts.
Analysts offer several interpretations for this trend. Some posit a "normalization phase" where interest is consolidating among a more dedicated, less reactive cohort, moving away from hype-driven cycles. Others suggest the metrics may not capture the full picture, as searches evolve to more sophisticated queries like "Bitcoin ETF performance" or "layer-2 solutions." The rise of institutional participation via Bitcoin ETFs and a more defined regulatory landscape are seen as factors making price discovery less dependent on retail sentiment measured by broad searches.
While headline interest metrics fell, sentiment analysis for early 2026 shows continued bearishness. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has mostly been in "fear" or "extreme fear" zones, and social media commentary turned more bearish between January 12-15, 2026, even as Bitcoin's price rallied from $90,320 to $97,540. However, a positive signal emerged as CryptoQuant data showed the 30-day Bitcoin Fear & Greed moving average crossed above the 90-day average, indicating improving short-term confidence.
