Crypto views on YouTube drop to a five-year low
Crypto views on YouTube drop to a five-year low 
Cryptocurrency Jan 12, 2026 Share
While the past three months have most notably been quite shaky for cryptocurrency prices, crypto-related YouTube viewership has also fallen steeply over the same period.
In fact, crypto views on the video-sharing platform have dropped to their lowest point since January 2021, according to data first cited by analyst Benjamin Cowen.
Based on Cowen’s 30-day moving average for different cryptocurrency YouTube channel views, the dramatic decline accelerated in October last year.
Eventually, it spread to other platforms as well, suggesting waning retail interest and participation in a prolonged bear market.
YouTube crypto views. Source: Benjamin Cowen (@intocryptoverse)
Crypto engagement on social media hits record lows
Indeed, a similar decline in engagement affected X, too. For example, CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju criticized the social media platform for limiting content pertaining to digital assets, paying special attention to bots that inevitably plague the internet.
“With the development of AI, bots have become inevitable.… But it’s absurd that X is more willing to block crypto topics than improve its bot detection systems,” Ju added.
This is why "crypto" posts are getting banned by the X algorithm. Bots generated 7,754,367 posts yesterday, up 1,224%. pic.twitter.com/xhnlhE1V8D
— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) January 10, 2026
The cooling number of interactions everywhere online suggests the numbers are not the result of a mere algorithm change but a more general loss of interest in altcoins.
“So it’s not just X and an algorithm change. Viewership to crypto has been dropping across platforms,” Cowen wrote on X.
To put things into perspective, Ju’s chart suggests around 7.7 million posts were created in just one day. The number apparently exceeds the usual levels by 1200%, and this proliferation of low-quality content has caused the algorithm to limit visibility for genuine crypto accounts as well.
Having observed the new data, traders are left pondering whether the dwindling view counts imply that institutional players and not retail investors have been the primary driving force in the current cycle.
Featured image via Shutterstock
