Markets
AI-Linked Crypto Coins Slip as Google Search Shows Peak Retail Investor Interest
Spikes in crypto-related Google search queries have historically occurred at major market highs, validating legendary investor Warren Buffet’s mantra of buying in a crash and selling in a boom. A similar dynamic now appears to be playing out in the market for so-called artificial intelligence (AI) tokens.
So-called AI coins like FET, RNDR, TAO and GRT have seen their market value drop by up to 30% over the past seven days, according to the data source. Coingeckojust like Google Trends indicates search interest for artificial intelligence may have reached its peak.
FET is the fourth worst performer among the top 100 cryptocurrencies over the past seven days. Market-leading Bitcoin (BTC) is down just 2.8% over the same period while the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), a measure of the broader crypto market, lost 6%.
Google Trends is widely used to gauge general or retail investor interest in trending topics. It shows that the value of the search query “AI” over the past 12 months reached a high of 100 last week. This is the same value as the value for the last five years. A score of 100 represents peak popularity – the maximum number of searches observed for the query in a given period.
In other words, the artificial intelligence craze has reached the high street, and a growing number of existing and potential retail investors are seeking information about it and publicly traded chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA). Nasdaq, a barometer of all things AI.
Although only indicative, the tool can be a good indicator to watch, as the masses are often driven by emotions and are often the last to enter a bull market and exit a bear market. For example, search peaks for BTC and that of Solana GROUND occurred at the respective highest prices in May 2021 and November 2021, respectively.
It is crucial to note that bitcoin, known to have a strong positive correlation with NVDA, hit rock bottom with technology stocks at the end of 2022 after the launch of ChatGPT, it raised awareness of artificial intelligence among the general public. AI rally represents potential, says Jeremy Grantham, chief investment strategist at GMO bubble within a bubble it could soon deflate.
It’s an idea that could prompt caution among people considering investment decisions.