Bitcoin Halving Interest on Google Trends Reaches 4X 2016 Levels

Meanwhile, spikes are also emerging in on-chain activities, even leading to a significant increase in transaction fees. On the network fundamentals side of things, the hashrate has set a new ATH in time for the block reward halving a week away.

Bitcoin Halving Anticipation Continues to Grow

According to data from Google Trends pointed out by @runtheirstops on Twitter, search interest in the Bitcoin halving is now four times the level seen before the 2016 halving. Indeed, as previously reported by BeInCrypto, Bitcoin halving searches have been steadily climbing over the past few weeks.

In the four years since the previous halving, the top-ranked cryptocurrency by market capitalization has become even more popular. No longer a niche topic of discussion, BTC and cryptocurrencies, in general, have arguably taken a prominent position in mainstream deliberations across finance and governance. Thus, it is perhaps unsurprising to see Bitcoin halving anticipation spiking rapidly, especially given BTC’s historical precedence. The Bitcoin spot price reached new all-time highs one year on from the two previous 50% block subsidy reward reductions. About a year-and-a-half after the July 2016 halving, the Bitcoin price famously almost crossed the $20,000 milestone. Indeed, the last halving ushered in an 18-month long bull run for the top-ranked cryptocurrency that saw its price grow from about $650 to $19,800 — a spike of almost 3,000%.

On-Chain Activity Spike

Google search interest is not the only indicator of growing anticipation for the upcoming halving. On-chain activity is also on the rise, leading to a spike in transaction fees as buyers continue to accumulate BTC. Again, this accumulation, backed up by trends seen from retail buyers since February 2020, points to market expectations of another massive upward price gain for BTC. Even the flash crash of Black Thursday in mid-March appears to have done little to quell retail appetite for Bitcoin. On the institutional side, crypto derivatives numbers and investment inflows in instruments like Grayscale Bitcoin Trust are also pointing to renewed interest from big-money players.