Social media chatter about silver and gold has outpaced cryptocurrency on most days this month, as retail investors respond to recent gains in precious metal prices, according to market intelligence platform Santiment.
Gold conversations surged in the second week of January after the metal hit new highs, dominating social media activity between Jan. 8 and Jan. 18, Santiment reported via an X post on Tuesday.
Interest in crypto briefly returned in the third week of January, as traders sought to “buy the dip on the way down,” with crypto topping social media discussions between Jan. 19 and Jan. 22.
However, silver has seen renewed attention after reaching all-time highs, also emerging as the most discussed asset in the first week of January, from Jan. 1 to Jan. 6.
“Cryptocurrency traders are well known for jumping between different sectors within digital assets based on the latest hype cycles—memecoins, AI, blue chips, etc.,” Santiment analysts said.
“But now, retail investors are proving willing to jump between sectors entirely, with social data showing gold, silver, and even equities attracting attention wherever the latest pumps appear,” Santiment analysts said.
Silver interest may signal a peak
Silver prices have been climbing, hitting a new all-time high of just over $117 on Tuesday, according to TradingView. However, Santiment warned that heightened retail interest and resulting FOMO often indicate a market top.
“Case in point: silver surged above $117.70 and then dropped below $102.70 within just two hours after retail hype peaked,” the analysts noted. As of Wednesday, silver is trading around $113.
Crypto still trending on Google
Google Trends data shows that cryptocurrency remains popular in search interest. Over the past seven days, crypto searches peaked at 100 on Jan. 21, dipped to 61 on Saturday, and rose again to 93 on Monday. Top related queries included “best crypto,” “what is crypto,” and “crypto price.” As of Wednesday, crypto has a score of 82.
Bitcoin saw its highest search interest on Monday with a score of 100 and its lowest on Sunday at 58, with top queries including “Bitcoin price” and “Bitcoin USD.” It currently stands at 86.
Silver’s search interest peaked on Jan. 22 at 100 and hit a low of 46 on Sunday. Related queries included “Silver price” and “Silver price today,” with a score of 68 on Wednesday.
