Investor sentiment in crypto has fallen to the same level it was during the 2022 Terra-LUNA
$LUNA collapse, one of the most catastrophic events in recent crypto history. Google search volume for the term 'crypto' is now hovering near yearly lows, even as the market experiences a significant drawdown. That combination—price falling while interest disappears—is a specific type of signal that goes beyond normal volatility.
When prices crash but search volume stays high, it usually means people are still engaged, still watching, still trying to make sense of what's happening. Fear is present, but attention remains. When search volume collapses alongside price, it suggests something different: apathy, exhaustion, or resignation. People aren't panic-searching for answers anymore. They're just not searching at all. That's the kind of sentiment environment that defined late 2022 after Terra imploded and contagion spread through the ecosystem.
What stood out to me is that low search volume during a downturn can mean two opposing things. It could signal capitulation—the final phase where even the last optimistic holders give up and stop paying attention, often marking a bottoming process. Or it could mean structural disengagement, where a large cohort of participants exits the space entirely and doesn't come back, even when prices recover. The difference between those two outcomes is everything, and search data alone can't tell you which one you're in.
The Terra comparison is particularly loaded because that wasn't just a price crash—it was a trust collapse. An entire algorithmic stablecoin ecosystem unwound in days, wiping out billions and shaking confidence in DeFi primitives broadly. If sentiment now mirrors that period, it suggests the current environment isn't just about price pain—it's about deeper uncertainty around what works, what's safe, and whether the infrastructure itself is reliable. That's harder to recover from than a simple bear market.
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