Google searches for “Bitcoin going to zero” hit an all-time high score of 100 on February 13, according to Google Trends data. The reading marks the highest level in over 3.5 years, surpassing the previous peak of 72 during June 2022’s market crash.
But while retail panic hits historic levels, some of the sharpest minds in macro finance are making the opposite bet.
How Bad Is Bitcoin Fear Right Now?
The search spike comes with Bitcoin trading roughly 47% below its all-time high of above $126,000, set in October, 2025. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index sits at 11.
For context, when the previous “Bitcoin going to zero” search peak hit 72 in June 2022, BTC fell 37% in a single month. Retail sentiment tends to accelerate sharply during extended drawdowns, with panic-driven searches rising as prices decline.
Why Is a 2008 Crisis Veteran Loading Bitcoin?
In a post published today, Bitcoin investor and entrepreneur Lark Davis highlighted the case of Hugh Hendry, the Scottish hedge fund veteran who returned 31.2% during the 2008 financial crisis.
Hendry founded Eclectica Asset Management and famously told BBC viewers to “panic” during the Greek debt crisis. He was right.
According to Davis, Hendry is now running what he calls a barbell strategy: long BTC and positioned for rate cuts. He sees Bitcoin potentially reaching $1 million while acknowledging it could halve first. In May 2025, Hendry sold property and put $10 million into Bitcoin.
His thesis is simple. Bitcoin at roughly $2 trillion versus gold at over $20 trillion represents a gap that either closes or doesn’t. Hendry thinks it closes.
Saylor and Trump Double Down After Strong Jobs Data
Michael Saylor posted “Never been more bullish” on X today, minutes after U.S. jobless claims came in at 206,000, beating the 223,000 forecast and the previous reading of 227,000.
Never Been More ₿ullish.
— Michael Saylor (@saylor) February 19, 2026
Eric Trump echoed the sentiment on CNBC yesterday, calling Bitcoin “one of the greatest performing asset classes” and predicting it hits $1 million.
Is Retail Fear Already Too Late?
Crypto intelligence platform Perception, found that professional media sentiment bottomed on February 5 and has been recovering for two weeks.
Retail fear, measured by Google search spikes, peaks with a 10-14 day delay. By the time the public is most scared, the professional narrative has already started to stabilize.
Bitcoin is trading at $65,948 at press time. The gap between who is searching “zero” and who is buying has not been this wide all cycle.