The phrase “Bitcoin going to zero” is trending once again. According to recent Google Trends data, search interest for the death of the world’s largest cryptocurrency has surged to its highest level since the infamous FTX collapse in late 2022.
This wave of digital pessimism follows a significant drawdown. After hitting an all-time high near $126,000 in October 2025, Bitcoin has corrected to roughly $66,500. For retail investors watching their portfolios dip 50% from the peak, the panic is palpable. The Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index has even plummeted to a score of 9, signaling “extreme fear”—a level of market anxiety usually reserved for catastrophic ecosystem failures.
The “One-Man Content Machine” Behind the Bearish Narrative
While the 2022 crash was fueled by the internal rot of centralized exchanges like FTX and Celsius, today’s fear seems to have a different engine. Industry analysts point to a “media saturation” effect driven by specific bearish voices.
Fernando Nikolic, founder of crypto intelligence platform Perception, notes that Bloomberg’s Mike McGlone has become a primary driver of the “Bitcoin to zero” narrative. By calling for a return to $10,000 and predicting a 2008-style financial meltdown, McGlone’s commentary has been amplified across crypto media, creating a feedback loop of negativity. This “macro doom” narrative, combined with lingering “quantum angst”—the fear that quantum computing might one day break Bitcoin’s encryption—has created a perfect storm of retail anxiety.
Retail Panic vs. Institutional Accumulation: A Widening Gap
Despite the “sky is falling” sentiment on Main Street, the data suggests that Wall Street and sovereign powers are moving in the opposite direction. There is a massive disconnect between what the general public is searching for and what the “smart money” is actually doing.
While retail investors are Googling exit strategies, institutional buyers are quietly accumulating. Large corporations like MicroStrategy continue to “stack sats,” and sovereign wealth funds—including those in Abu Dhabi—are reportedly increasing their holdings in Bitcoin ETFs.
The 14-Day Fear Lag
One of the most telling insights from recent market data is the time lag between professional sentiment and retail panic. Historical trends show that retail fear usually peaks about 10 to 14 days after professional media sentiment has already bottomed out and begun to recover.
“By the time the public is most scared, the professional narrative has already started to stabilize,” Nikolic explained.
In other words, by the time “Bitcoin going to zero” hits its peak on Google, the institutional “dip-buying” may already be well underway, suggesting that the loudest moment of fear often marks the local bottom rather than the end of the asset.
