Last updated on March 6th, 2026 at 11:46 pm
Google search interest for Bitcoin and phrases like “is Bitcoin going to zero” hit a 12-month peak in early February 2026 as the world’s largest cryptocurrency plummeted from $81,500 to nearly $60,000 in just five days.
This 25% decline, the sharpest short-term drop since late 2024, has pushed the Crypto Fear & Greed Index to an Extreme Fear score of 5, a level of panic not witnessed since the 2022 market distress.
The surge in search volume, which reached a perfect Google Trends score of 100 during the week of February 1, reflects a wave of retail anxiety and “death spiral” concerns amongst investors.
Liquidations and macro shocks trigger “10/10” crash
Market observers attribute the aggressive sell-off to a perfect storm of institutional de-leveraging and geopolitical shocks. A massive wave of liquidations was triggered on February 11 after Bitcoin failed to reclaim the $70,000 psychological resistance level. This 10/10 crash was further accelerated by President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 100% tariff on Chinese imports, which spooked global risk-on markets.
Cyclical shifts vs bubble fears
Despite the prevailing gloom, some experts suggest this volatility marks the end of the traditional four-year cycle and the dawn of an institutional era. While skeptics like Bloomberg’s Mike McGlone warn that the crypto bubble is imploding with a potential target of $10,000, others point to the passage of bipartisan market structure legislation as a long-term stabilizer.
Meanwhile, a new Matrix on Target report provides a structured framework for investors to identify Bitcoin’s true cycle low and time entries during the current bear market. The analysis reviews the firm’s prior predictions, such as signalling the start of the previous bull run in October 2022, forecasting a $125,000 peak by mid-2023, and confirming a bearish trend change after Bitcoin dropped below crucial price points in late 2025. This backdrop of extreme market fear follows a history of security breaches that have previously eroded investor confidence.
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