I just checked Google Trends data, and something interesting is happening with searches for 'bitcoin zero' in the United States. In February, they reached an all-time high right as the price was falling toward $60,000. It seems like a typical retail panic signal, and indeed, similar spikes in 2021 and 2022 coincided with local lows. It sounds like a clear contrarian opportunity, doesn’t it?

But here’s where it gets interesting. Globally, those same searches peaked in August and have been declining since then. In other words, the fear appears to be concentrated in the U.S., not a global panic. It probably has to do with tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and the rotation into safe assets that we've seen locally. U.S. investors are reacting more sharply than those in Asia or Europe.

Additionally, there’s a technical detail that changes the game: Google Trends measures relative interest on a scale from 0 to 100, not raw volume. A 100 in 2026, when the retail audience for Bitcoin is much larger than in 2022, doesn’t necessarily mean more people are searching in absolute numbers. It’s like comparing zero raised to zero in different contexts—the result depends on the framework. Retail fear is high in the U.S., but the global picture is cooling off. It’s not the guaranteed contrarian signal some think it is.