'How to buy crypto?' Mentions of bitcoin jump on social media and web searches, indicating potential retail interest

Search terms for the keywords “Bitcoin” and “Ethereum” are soaring on social media and search engines, according to The Block Research. While not a perfect proxy, the researchers noted this could be “a leading indicator of increased retail inflows … mirroring trends observed during prior bullish cycles.”

“The uptick in social activity reflects growing participation from retail audiences, as many casual users and influencers engage in crypto discussions,” the researchers wrote in a newsletter on Monday. 

There were 247,000 mentions of “Bitcoin” on X during the second week of January 2025 and 495,000 mentions during the third week. Mentions of “Ethereum” grew to 293,000 from 73,600 over the same period. 

These figures are in line with increasing search interest in the terms “Bitcoin” and “Crypto,” according to Google Trend data over the past week. Bitcoin and Crypto spiked to ratings of 100 and 92, respectively, on Jan. 20, amid pro-crypto President Donald Trump’s inauguration. 

Google rates terms on a normalized 0-100 scale, representing the relative popularity of a search term compared to peak interest for that term within a given period, meaning bitcoin searches were at their peak today. More to the point, the phrase "how to buy crypto" garnered a 100 rating this past week.

The Block researchers noted the apparent surge in interest could be driven by multiple factors, including bitcoin testing new price highs since mid-December 2024 and the incoming Trump administration. 

Over the weekend, Trump made waves by launching a memecoin that rocketed to a $50 billion market cap. Some Solana-based wallets experienced degraded service during the runup and down, potentially indicating a growing number of users. 

Finally, the Coinbase app rose in the ranks to the 21st most downloaded on Apple’s U.S. App Store on Monday, another common but imperfect predictor of growing retail interest.