‘Bitcoin is Dead’ Hits All-Time High on Google Searches

As bitcoin cratered below its 2017 high, retail investors – arguably most prone to speculative trading – turned to Google ask whether this time, in fact, bitcoin was well and truly dead.

Bitcoin Sentiment Bottoming?

At present, market sentiment is shaky, and with “Bitcoin is Dead” searches hitting an all-time high, investors are demonstrating a distinct lack of confidence in the asset class’s short- to medium-term prospects.

As bear markets come around, Bitcoin’s critics tend to become increasingly vocal. And one of the more prominent detractors is gold bug and perennial Bitcoin adversary Peter Schiff, who recently called for a US$3,000 price target:

If #Bitcoin can collapse by 70% from $69,000 to under $21,000, it can just as easily fall another 70% down to $6,000. Given the excessive leverage in #crypto, imagine the forced sales that would take place during a sell-off of this magnitude. $3,000 is a more likely price target.

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) June 14, 2022

Bitcoiners responded in turn, arguing that he “has a poor track record” when it comes to bitcoin predictions:

Bitcoin Obituaries – 455 and Climbing

Information site 99 Bitcoins keeps track of so-called “Bitcoin Obituaries”, a rough approximation for “Bitcoin is Dead”.

A Bitcoin obituary is categorised as such if “the content itself (not just the headline) is explicit about the fact that Bitcoin is or will be worthless (not ‘maybe’ or ‘could’)”. Furthermore, it additionally requires that the “content was produced by a person with a notable following or a site with substantial traffic”.

Thus far in this year, Bitcoin has died 18 times, all the way down from around US$50,000:

For patient investors, with a long-term horizon, calls that “Bitcoin is Dead” may be a sign to start entering the market. As the world’s most famous investor has repeatedly said: