Focus on Google's popular keywords: What are retail investors paying attention to?

By: blockbeats|2024/12/14 20:15:01

Original title: Google Trends as a Retail Barometer: Key Insights
Original author: Stacy Muur, crypto researcher

Original translation: xiaozou, Golden Finance

Bitcoin is halfway through its second decade, and the 20th anniversary is not far away. During this period, the crypto world has also undergone unpredictable changes, influenced by market sentiment, political strategies, and the alternation of bull and bear market cycles.

Despite these fluctuations, new users continue to enter the crypto world through various channels. Which of them is the most popular? Let's explore the answer in this article.

1. Common keywords

To better understand the changes in user interests, I analyzed Google Trends over the past five years. This period covers both bull and bear market cycles, providing an objective perspective.

People frequently search for general concepts like “crypto,” “blockchain,” and “token.” As expected, the volume of searches for these keywords is proportional to the market’s upward movement.

Focus on Google's popular keywords: What are retail investors paying attention to?

But these searches don’t reveal intent. To better understand user interest, it’s helpful to take a closer look at intent-based searches.

Throughout history, the main uses of cryptocurrency have been trading, investing, and speculating. Airdrops followed closely behind, but not as popular as the more recently searched keywords like “trade” and “invest.” Nonetheless, passive income remains a topic of interest to cryptocurrency-savvy users.

2. Trading related queries

Since we are talking about trading, let’s go a step further and gain insight into user brand awareness and key entry paths.

User attention to topics related to CEX (centralized exchanges) and DEX (decentralized exchanges) reflects the dominance of CEX trading volume over DEX trading volume. Despite various opinions, DeFi is still a small part of the broader crypto market, and centralized exchanges like Binance should not be underestimated in this market.

Key Observations:

· CEX popularity peaked in late December 2019 and fell to a low in mid-March 2021.

· Binance has been leading in search interest for the top centralized exchanges in 2024.

· Interest in DEXs fell to a low in the summer of 2021 but reached an all-time high in late November 2024. This was likely driven by Bitcoin’s new bull run and a surge in meme coin activity on the Solana DEXs.

· Among the leading DEXs by TVL, PancakeSwap dominated search interest in May 2021. In December 2024, Uniswap took the lead, followed by Raydium.

· The popularity of crypto derivatives peaked in 2021, but protocols such as Hyperliquid have recently revived interest compared to Drift Protocol and Jupiter.

· The prediction market surged in November 2024, driven by Trump-related discussions on Polymarket. However, the popularity quickly declined, reflecting a similar trend to November 2020.

3. Token search trends

The search popularity of the word "crypto" is only comparable to that of "Bitcoin", which is the main query term for crypto-related topics.

Search popularity for Bitcoin peaked during the 2021 bull run and hit its lowest point at the end of 2019. Even after Bitcoin reached a price of $100,000 for the first time in late 2024, it failed to regain its former popularity.

Meanwhile, query frequency for other top market cap tokens, including Ethereum, remained relatively stable, although XRP has seen a significant increase following its recent rally.

4. Narrative popularity

When comparing user interest in major verticals such as DeFi, RWA, DePIN, GameFi, and the recently popular AI x Crypto, user interest in the first two is sustainable. In contrast, other fields rely more on hype.

Recently, there has been a surge in interest in the RWA and AI x Crypto fields, while DePIN, DeFi, and GameFi remain in the background.

The popularity of Meme coins soared to unprecedented levels at the end of 2024. At the same time, AI-related tokens are gathering attention, and March 2024 is a critical moment.

5. Keywords in 2024

Now that we have a general understanding of the current interest and major attention projects in Web3, let me share what are the most popular search queries in the crypto field at present (sorted by search query volume).

· Bitcoin — The Unrivaled Attention Magnet

· Ethereum

· DEX

· CEX

· L1 and L2 — Evenly Matched

· DeFi

· Altcoin

· RWA

· AI Agent

· Memecoin

· DePIN

· NFT

· GameFi

· Metaverse

Here are the biggest Web3 brands ranked:

· Bitcoin

· XRP

· TON

· Binance

· Ethereum

· Solana

· USDT

· TRON

· Bybit

· Metamask

· OKX

All other brand searches, including those frequently discussed on Crypto Twitter like Vitruals, Ethena, or any of the L2 chains, lag far behind the above brands.

What can you see?

Most topics discussed on Crypto Twitter do not reach a global audience. Retail investors still join the crypto world through centralized exchanges, and DeFi captures only a small portion of crypto interest. Many of today's hot brands are still beyond the retail audience.

Original link

On March 16, 2026, in Dallas, Texas, USA, CanGu Company (New York Stock Exchange code: CANG, hereinafter referred to as "CanGu" or the "Company") today announced its unaudited financial performance for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025. As a btc-42">bitcoin mining enterprise relying on a globally operated layout and dedicated to building an integrated energy and AI computing power platform, CanGu is actively advancing its business transformation and infrastructure development.

2025 Full Year and Fourth Quarter Financial and Operational Highlights

• Financial Performance:

Total revenue for the full year 2025 was $688.1 million, with $179.5 million in the fourth quarter.

Bitcoin mining business revenue for the full year was $675.5 million, with $172.4 million in the fourth quarter.

Full-year adjusted EBITDA was $24.5 million, while the fourth quarter was -$156.3 million.

• Mining Operations and Costs:

A total of 6,594.6 bitcoins were mined throughout the year, averaging 18.07 bitcoins per day; of which 1,718.3 bitcoins were mined in the fourth quarter, averaging 18.68 bitcoins per day.

The average mining cost for the full year (excluding miner depreciation) was $79,707 per bitcoin, and for the fourth quarter, it was $84,552;

The all-in sustaining costs were $97,272 and $106,251 per bitcoin, respectively.

As of the end of December 2025, the company has cumulatively produced 7,528.4 bitcoins since entering the bitcoin mining business.

• Strategic Progress:

The company has completed the termination of the American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program and transitioned to a direct listing on the NYSE to enhance information transparency and align with its strategic direction, with a long-term goal of expanding its investor base.

CEO Paul Yu stated: "2025 marked the company's first full year as a bitcoin mining enterprise, characterized by rapid execution and structural reshaping. We completed a comprehensive adjustment of our asset system and established a globally distributed mining network. Additionally, the company introduced a new management team, further strengthening our capabilities and competitive advantage in the digital asset and energy infrastructure space. The completion of the NYSE direct listing and USD pricing also signifies our transformation into a global AI infrastructure company."

"As we enter 2026, the company will continue to optimize its balance sheet structure and enhance operational efficiency and cost resilience through adjustments to the miner portfolio. At the same time, we are advancing our strategic transformation into an AI infrastructure provider. Leveraging EcoHash, we will utilize our capabilities in scalable computing power and energy networks to provide cost-effective AI inference solutions. The relevant site transformations and product development are progressing simultaneously, and the company is well-positioned to sustain its execution in the new phase."

The company's Chief Financial Officer, Michael Zhang, stated: "By 2025, the company is expected to achieve significant revenue growth through its scaled mining operations. Despite recording a net loss of $452.8 million from ongoing operations, mainly due to one-time transformation costs and market-driven fair value adjustments, the company, from a financial perspective, will reduce its leverage, optimize its Bitcoin reserve strategy and liquidity management, introduce new capital to strengthen its financial position, and seize investment opportunities in high-potential areas such as AI infrastructure while navigating market volatility."

Fourth Quarter 2025 Ongoing Operations Financial Performance

Revenue

The total revenue for the fourth quarter was $1.795 billion. Of this, the Bitcoin mining business contributed $1.724 billion in revenue, generating 1,718.3 Bitcoins during the quarter. Revenue from the international automobile trading business was $4.8 million.

Operating Costs and Expenses

The total operating costs and expenses for the fourth quarter amounted to $4.56 billion, primarily attributed to expenses related to the Bitcoin mining business, as well as impairment of mining machines and fair value losses on Bitcoin collateral receivables.

This includes:

· Cost of Revenue (excluding depreciation): $1.553 billion

· Cost of Revenue (depreciation): $38.1 million

· Operating Expenses: $9.9 million (including related-party expenses of $1.1 million)

· Mining Machine Impairment Loss: $81.4 million

· Fair Value Loss on Bitcoin Collateral Receivables: $171.4 million

Profit Situation

The operating loss for the fourth quarter was $276.6 million, a significant increase from a loss of $0.7 million in the same period of 2024, primarily due to the downward trend in Bitcoin prices.

The net loss from ongoing operations was $285 million, compared to a net profit of $2.4 million in the same period last year.

The adjusted EBITDA was -$156.3 million, compared to $2.4 million in the same period last year.

Full Year 2025 Ongoing Operations Financial Performance

Revenue

The total revenue for the full year was $6.881 billion. Of this, the revenue from the Bitcoin mining business was $6.755 billion, with a total output of 6,594.6 Bitcoins for the year. Revenue from the international automobile trading business was $9.8 million.

Operating Costs and Expenses

The total annual operating costs and expenses amount to $1.1 billion.

Specifically, they include:

· Revenue Cost (excluding depreciation): $543.3 million

· Revenue Cost (depreciation): $116.6 million

· Operating Expenses: $28.9 million (including related-party expenses of $1.1 million)

· Miner Impairment Loss: $338.3 million

· Bitcoin Collateral Receivable Fair Value Change Loss: $96.5 million

Profitability

The full-year operating loss is $437.1 million. The continuing operations net loss is $452.8 million, while in 2024, there was a net profit of $4.8 million.

The 2025 non-GAAP adjusted net profit is $24.5 million (compared to $5.7 million in 2024). This measure does not include share-based compensation expenses; refer to "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for details.

Financial Position

As of December 31, 2025, the company's key assets and liabilities are as follows:

· Cash and Cash Equivalents: $41.2 million

· Bitcoin Collateral Receivable (Non-current, related party): $663.0 million

· Miner Net Value: $248.7 million

· Long-Term Debt (related party): $557.6 million

In February 2026, the company sold 4,451 bitcoins and repaid a portion of related-party long-term debt to reduce financial leverage and optimize the asset-liability structure.

Stock Repurchase

As per the stock repurchase plan disclosed on March 13, 2025, as of December 31, 2025, the company had repurchased a total of 890,155 shares of Class A common stock for approximately $1.2 million.

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