Online crypto curiosity has retraced from its 2021 all-time high to late 2020 levels amid dwindling Bitcoin sentiment. According to Google Trends data, “crypto” searches currently score 17, a significant downfall from its reference point 100, recorded in May 2021.

It is worth noting that the two largest virtual currencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, followed a similar trajectory while market sentiments remained neutral over the past month. 

Low Market Sentiments Pushes Down Interest In Crypto

During the bull market, individual interest in digital assets skyrocketed to a peak in May 2021. But this has since changed hands due to bearish events that made some people and investors lose interest and confidence in the blockchain industry. 

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There has been a consistent decline in search interest on crypto-related terms since May 2022, after the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. However, there was a mild spike in interest in early November 2022 during the FTX saga. But the latest decline in interest happened as Bitcoin consolidated around $28,000 over the past 10 weeks. 

In a recent interview, the CEO of Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz, described this Bitcoin price behavior as Lackadaisical, adding that it is due to a lack of institutional interest.

In a June 4 tweet, Guy Turner, also known as Coin Bureau Guy, noted that the fall in interest coincides with reduced trading volumes on crypto exchanges. Guy said that exchange trading volume reached a 32-month low in May.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index further confirmed these assumptions as the market sentiment has been at 53 (Neutral) for nearly a month. However, the steep decline in crypto searches wasn’t industry-wide. Some areas of the industry still maintain relatively high search volumes. 

Search volumes on “decentralized finance” and “DeFi” increased in 2023, while searches for “memecoin” reached a peak in early May. The data shows that Nigeria has the highest score on crypto-related searches, while the lowest scores came from South American countries. 

But on the contrary, search trends for artificial intelligence continue to increase as many believe AI to be the latest tech trend.

Institutional Interest Remains High But Paused By The Crypto Winter

Meanwhile, a recent survey shows that while institutional investors are very interested in crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), buying has reduced. Despite the over 60% market decline from all-time highs, institutional interest in ETFs remains high.

On April 3, Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH)’s 2023 Global ETF Investor Survey polled 325 institutional investors, financial advisers, and fund managers in the US, UK, Europe, and China. 

According to the survey, nearly three-quarters of institutional investors claimed they were extremely or very interested in crypto ETFs. However, the bear market has watered down their hunger for these investments.

Only a quarter said they plan to increase their portfolio in crypto ETFs over the next 12 months. That’s a 6% fall from the institutional interest in ETFs recorded in 2022.