Bitcoin’s sharp sell-off pushed online interest to its strongest level in a year. Google Trends data showed that the search score for “Bitcoin” reached 100 in the week starting February 1, the highest reading over the past 12 months. The prior peak came in November 2024, when Bitcoin first fell below the psychological $100,000 mark and the search score climbed to 95.
Search spike followed a fast drop to $60,000
The jump in search activity matched a violent move in price. Bitcoin was trading near $81,500 on February 1 and then sank to a low of $60,000 within five days. According to CoinMarketCap, it later recovered to around $70,740. That sudden correction drew attention back to the market, especially from retail traders who had largely stayed on the sidelines.
André Dragosch, Head of European Research at Bitwise, wrote on social media that “The retail investor is coming back.” He argued that the renewed interest was not random. CryptoQuant Director of Research Julio Moreno also said U.S. investors started buying Bitcoin around the $60,000 level, while the Coinbase premium turned positive for the first time since mid-January.
Extreme fear still defines the mood
Not every signal improved with the rebound. Over the weekend, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to 6, placing the market in the “Extreme Fear” zone. That reading was last seen in June 2022. The drop suggests that investors remain defensive, even as bargain buying appears near recent lows.
Some participants see the setup as a buying window. Crypto analyst Ran Neuner said current data points to one of Bitcoin’s historically lowest valuation phases. A similar split in views has also appeared around Ethereum. Even with expectations tied to spot Ethereum ETFs, its price has stayed under pressure, showing how sensitive traders remain to macro uncertainty. The broader crypto market is still balancing fear against selective dip-buying, and that tension extends well beyond Bitcoin alone.