Google Search has recently made a significant change by halting the display of price charts for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This shift has raised eyebrows in the crypto community especially among investors who have long relied on Google for quick access to real-time price information.
While users can still find cryptocurrency price charts on Google Finance, the direct visibility in search results has disappeared leading to speculation about the implications of this move.
On the weekend users of the social media platform X , noticed that whenever they typed the price of Bitcoin on the search tab, there was no chart to associate with it, a feature which was previously available. However, search for stock prices continues to display charts which may indicate change in the approach of Google regarding the availability of charts along with cryptocurrency information.
This decision has, understandably, generated debates on what such considerations are all about, with parts of the crypto community arguing that this could be written as the fact that traditional finance is threatened by the rise of cryptocurrency among others.
In the past, users have been able to find the current rates of some of the leading cryptocurrencies with ease thanks to Google without having to go to specialized financial websites. With this feature, investors as well as crypto enthusiasts stood an off chance of checking price ranges which helped in making perception of the cryptocurrency marketplace more mainstream.
The elimination of this capability may prove inconvenient to users who dislike going to other sites to check prices and would rather use the search.
Compounding this development is a notable decline in search interest for Bitcoin. According to recent data, the search volume for “Bitcoin” on Google has hit a one-year low, registering just 33 on a scale of 100 during the week of October 12, 2024.
This decline in interest is striking especially when compared to similar trends from late January to early February 2024, when Bitcoin’s search interest also dipped to a low point. Following that period, Bitcoin experienced a significant price surge rising from around $41,000 to nearly $71,500 within six weeks.
Ryan Lee, the chief analyst at Bitget Research, pointed out the significance of low search volumes. He noted that the last time Bitcoin’s search interest fell to such levels, it preceded a major price increase. Lee emphasized that market stagnation periods, such as the one seen from May to September 2023, present key opportunities for investors to build their positions in anticipation of future price rallies.
He advised that purchasing Bitcoin during these low-interest times can be a rational strategy, as it allows investors to capitalize on potential upward trends when interest inevitably returns.
Due to the expansion of the cryptocurrency market, it is worth mentioning that this strategy, where information related to price is no longer overtly present in the search, would probably alter the behavior of the investors.
This may seem like a retreat for some members of the community, while in the views of certain members of the crypto community, it’s a good time to take a pause and reformulate an approach.
As search interest as well as market conditions changes with time and as there’s practically meaningless price tracking on the site, this is indicative of the volatility associated with whereby dull periods are usually leading up to bullish runs and sharp rises in prices.