Google search volume in the US for the phrase “bitcoin zero” hit a record score of 100 on the company’s relative interest scale in February, coinciding with Bitcoin’s 50%-plus drawdown from its October all-time high and a slide toward $60,000. Previous spikes in 2021 and 2022 occurred near local price bottoms, leading some to read the surge as a contrarian buy signal.
Global trend tells a different story
Worldwide, the same term peaked at 100 back in August and has since fallen to as low as 38 this month. Instead of setting new highs, global fear searches have been declining for months. The divergence points to a more localized panic: US-specific catalysts such as tariff escalations, tensions with Iran, and a broad risk-off rotation in domestic equities have dominated the macro narrative.
Retail investors in Asia or Europe, facing a different news cycle, are reacting less acutely to Bitcoin’s drawdown.
The methodological caveat
Google Trends does not report raw search volume; it scores interest on a relative 0-to-100 scale where 100 marks the term’s own peak within the selected window. A score of 100 in February 2026, when the US retail audience is meaningfully larger than during the 2022 bear market, does not necessarily mean more absolute searches. It means the term spiked relative to a higher baseline.
The takeaway: US retail fear is clearly elevated, but the “searches hit a bottom” framework may not carry the same weight when the global trend is cooling. It remains contrarian fuel, but hardly one that guarantees a clean trend reversal.