U.S. demand turns negative for a record 40 days as “bitcoin zero” searches peak

The well-followed Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Index briefly looked like it was recovering after the Feb. 5 crash. It wasn’t.

The premium has now been negative for 40 consecutive days, according to Coinglass data, setting the longest streak of sub-zero readings since 2023. The current reading sits at -0.0467%, barely changed from two weeks ago, when a sharp narrowing from -0.22% suggested U.S. buyers had stepped in near the lows.

The index measures the price gap between bitcoin on Coinbase and the global market average. Coinbase is widely used as a proxy for U.S. institutional and dollar-denominated flows, so a persistent negative reading means American investors are consistently paying less than the rest of the world — either selling more aggressively or simply not showing up.

The previous record was roughly 30 days of continuous negative premium during the October 2025 drawdown. That streak broke when a sharp bounce brought U.S. buyers back into the market. This time, the bounce came, as bitcoin recovered as much as 15% from its Feb. 5 intraday low. But the premium never followed.

That divergence shows that while price recovered, the composition of demand didn’t. Whatever buying drove bitcoin back above $62,000 came from outside U.S. hours, outside Coinbase’s order books, or both.

The one constructive read is that the premium has been gradually less negative since early February, creeping from -0.22% back toward -0.05%. It’s improving, just not fast enough to flip positive, a threshold that historically coincides with sustained accumulation phases rather than relief rallies.

Interestingly, Google searches for “bitcoin zero” in the U.S. hit record highs earlier this month, as CoinDesk reported, even as global search interest for the term remained flat.

Both signals point to American investors specifically losing conviction at a pace that hasn’t shown up elsewhere.