Bitcoin search trends on Google have returned to bear market levels.

Crypto markets and Bitcoin prices may be near two-year highs, but retail interest and search participation have fallen to market lows. Crypto Social Media and Google Trends currently show very low engagement rates.

Participation is down about 80% compared to the week of the ETF's approval and is back to market levels again.

Bitcoin Google searches slow

According to Google Trends, searches for ‘Bitcoin' are back to cycle-low levels. This follows a brief spike in January when spot ETFs launched in the United States.

Bitcoin Archive commented on search trends:

“I don't know what the implications are for the shape of this cycle, but it looks like we're still very early.”

They compared Bitcoin search trend activity with previous years. Twitter activity increased as BTC lost $15,000 in October and November 2020. However, it is now down 85 percent from its previous all-time high. Although ETH has set record levels, the same is true for Ethereum search trends.

“It still feels like a bear-market ghost town. The same regulars posting and participating, maybe more often, but it's still the same crew.

Search trends are currently at a quarter of the levels they reached during the 2021 bull market, yet Bitcoin prices are only 30% away from all-time highs.

Read more: How to buy Bitcoin (BTC) on eToro: a step-by-step guide

I also had a look at the Bitcoin subreddit, which was

“Growing, but no swelling.”

Moreover, Reddit posts and comments are both at bear market lows, with neither activity nor demand increasing.

However, the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index tells a different story, with a ‘greed' reading of 70. The index peaked at 94 in December 2020 but has not returned to those high greed levels since then.

No FOMO until ATH.

Observers mostly agree that retail FOMO (fear of missing out) usually comes around the peak of the market, which can still be a year away.

So a price break above $70,000 could trigger the next retail wave of FOMO.

Investor and analyst Fred Krueger opined that most Americans are generally not that interested in investing.

“They get interested when they think they can make a lot of money fast. Searches for “stocks” etc. show a similar pattern. They are very interested in parabolic upward movements.

At the time of writing, BTC was trading around $48,000 following a 12% increase in the past seven days, so someone is paying attention.