Google searches for "cryptocurrency" have plummeted to an all-time low, with silver becoming the new safe haven.

Cryptocurrency search interest on Google has dropped from 100 to 16; meanwhile, silver has become the market focus, with the keyword search index for “Silver” and “白銀” soaring to a historic high.
(Background: Coinbase Bitcoin negative premium has persisted for over 14 days. Is now a good time to buy the dip?)
(Additional context: Elon Musk rarely comments on silver’s surge, warning: “This is not good” and alerting to supply chain risks.)

According to Google Trends data, the search interest for the keyword “Cryptocurrency” is only 16, far below the peak of 100 when Bitcoin surged to $120,000 in August this year, indicating a clear cooling of discussion volume; currently, the fear and greed index is around 28, with the market shrouded in a continuous “fear” atmosphere.

On the other hand, silver has become a market spotlight, with Google Trends showing the search index for “silver price” and “白銀” soaring to a historic high; spot silver prices have jumped from about $28 at the beginning of the year to over $79 this Monday, a 170% increase for the year, and are expected to create a record of eight consecutive months of gains since 1980.

Supply and demand gap and inventory shortages

The main reasons for silver’s strong rise this year include several factors: firstly, the global supply-demand structural imbalance continues to widen, with an estimated silver deficit of over 200 million ounces by 2025, and inventories remaining tight. Secondly, explosive growth in industrial demand, with significant increases in silver use in photovoltaic solar, electric vehicles, AI data centers, and semiconductors.

Additionally, expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts, geopolitical tensions, a weakening dollar, and silver being listed on the US critical minerals list have attracted substantial investment and safe-haven capital inflows. On the other hand, supply-side expansion has faced difficulties. Major mining countries have limited production growth in recent years due to insufficient capital expenditure and stricter environmental approvals.

Looking ahead to 2026, unless miners succeed in significantly expanding production or recycling systems rapidly increase output, the market generally expects silver to remain in a “high volatility, high premium” range.

However, risks should not be overlooked. Technical indicators show that the daily RSI for silver has been long above 70, indicating short-term overheating; if the global manufacturing recovery underperforms or the dollar unexpectedly strengthens, prices could test the psychological support level of $70.