‘Bitcoin Dead’ Hits Google Peak | Report Predicts Crypto Growth Despite Terra Luna Contagion & Depression

The largest cryptocurrency in the world, Bitcoin might soon be dead.

The collapse in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has reignited fresh speculation about the demise of the leading cryptocurrency. At least this is evident from the search trends on Google. Google searches for the keyword “Bitcoin dead” spiked in the last week ending Friday, June 18, and likely hit the highest level on record. Google Trends tracks interest in search terms over time, assigning a score of 1 to 100 based on the total number of user queries. Data is anonymized and categorized by topic and collected by location. “Bitcoin dead” reached a score of 100 for the period between June 12–18 based on preliminary data reflected by the dotted line. The last time a search query scored 100 was in December 2017 or thereabouts. Global searches for “Bitcoin dead” skyrocketed over the weekend. Searches for similar keywords, such as “Bitcoin is dead,” also increased sharply but did not reach new heights.

Google search results reflect peak anxiety for the cryptocurrency market after weeks of relentless selling in the price of this asset. Bitcoin’s downward spiral, now in its seventh month, may have been triggered by a sweeping shift in Federal Reserve policy, which has put downward pressure on risk assets. The explosion of the Terra ecosystem and the associated contagion effect was also contributing factor. Poor market conditions have also given rise to credible speculation that major industry players, such as Celsius and Three Arrows Capital, are facing bankruptcy. Mainstream media outlets have written hundreds of Bitcoin obituaries over the years. Experts have also backed the recent market crash as evidence that BTC is not a viable asset. Bitcoin is supposed to “die” 45 times by 2021, the year the digital asset hit several record highs.

According to a report by CoinDesk, earlier this week, BofA released a report showing that consumer interest in crypto has managed to rise despite the market correction, with many of those surveyed indicating an intention to buy or use digital assets in the future. The survey, which polled 1,000 existing and potential crypto users, found that 91% of respondents had the intention to purchase crypto in the next six months. Furthermore, the same percentage of respondents indicated that they had bought crypto assets within the last six months. A full 30% indicated that they had no intention to sell their crypto within the next six months, with a similar number of respondents saying they had not sold any digital currencies in the previous six months.

The report indicates growth in interest for digital currencies as a form of payment, with 39% of respondents saying they currently use crypto as payment for online purchases and 34% having used crypto for in-person transactions. Of those surveyed, 65% reported having less than one-tenth of their investment portfolio in digital assets, with only 15% saying they held one-quarter of their investments in digital assets. The vast majority of respondents indicated that they were short-term investors in crypto, with 77% claiming to have held digital assets for less than one year.