In January, precious metals surpassed cryptocurrencies in social media popularity. Investor attention shifted to gold and silver due to rising prices, according to Santiment.
😴 Are crypto traders & investors checked out? Based on social data across crypto social media circles, the focus in January has turned from:
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) January 26, 2026
💤 Week 1: Minimal discourse as traders return from holidays (Crypto rises while traders sleep)
🥇 Week 2: Gold discussions erupt as the… pic.twitter.com/U5X0VzAGPb
The peak of gold discussions occurred in the second week of the month after it hit a historic high of over $5000. The asset dominated the news cycle from January 8 to 18.
From January 19 to 22, the focus temporarily shifted back to digital assets as traders sought to buy the market dip.
Later, audience interest returned to silver, which also reached an all-time high. The "devil's metal" had already led in mentions during the first week of the year.
“Crypto traders are known for their tendency to switch between various sectors of digital assets following the latest hype cycle—whether it’s meme coins, blue chips, or AI tokens,” Santiment noted.
According to social metrics, audience interest is shifting towards gold, silver, or the stock market, following the latest “pumps.”
Peak Hype?
On January 27, the price of silver hit a new all-time high.
Santiment analysts warn that a sharp increase in mentions of an asset and FOMO among retail traders often signals the formation of a market peak.
They cited an example where, at the peak of retail hype, silver soared to $117 but fell back below $102.7 within two hours.
However, Google Trends data confirms sustained interest in the crypto industry. The peak popularity of the search term "crypto" occurred on January 25, reaching a maximum score of 100.
Top queries also included "best crypto," "what is crypto," and "crypto price."
As a reminder, Santiment analysts linked the decline in stablecoin market capitalization to the gold rally.