Research data on the web suggests that popular interest in bitcoin remains at normal levels, despite a sharp rise in prices to nearly $ 16.000.
Google Trend data on FOMO
The cryptocurrency with the largest market capitalization has made nearly 50% gains in the past four weeks, hitting a price of $ 15.971 on Friday 6 November, a level last reached during the bull market boom between December 2017. and January 2018.
Some observers say the current bitcoin rush is primarily driven by greed for retail trade and the Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO). However, Google's data shows a very different picture.
Google Trends, a tool used to measure general interest in individual trending topics, is currently returning a value of 10 for the worldwide search query "price per buy Bitcoins".
The measure is significantly lower than the value of 93 observed in early December 2017 when bitcoin's record above the $ 15.000 mark was recorded. The current Google Trend reading is also lower than the peak of 19 recorded in the second week of May, when bitcoin suffered its third mining reward halving. Google's data suggests that retail investors are showing relative calm despite bitcoin's recent rally and the market is far from being in a frenzy.
Bitcoin's run is still long
Google's search values typically rise following a major bull run as investors outside the bitcoin circle become aware of the cryptocurrency's performance lagging behind often scan the internet for pricing information to consider entering the market.
Google Trends provides access to a mostly unfiltered sample of actual search requests made to Google and scales their searches to a range of 0 to 100, according to the company. The triggering of a FOMO reaction is generally considered a sign of an asset approaching a major high as retail investors are usually the last to enter the market.
But with still relatively low popular interest, it can be said with relative certainty that the FOMO reaction has yet to take over the market and the ongoing institution-led rally will continue for some time to come.
Bitcoin reached a record high of $ 20.000 in mid-December 2017. At the same time, the worldwide search query “Bitcoin Price” hit 100 on Google Trends. It is worth noting, however, that high search value doesn't necessarily translate into increased buying pressure.
Investors often seek information, but remain undecided about what to do for a long time. As of press time, bitcoin is trading close to $ 15.450, up 118% year-on-year. The $ 15.971 figure reached on Friday was a 33-month high.
