In May, the term “onchain” saw an unprecedented rise in Google search interest, hitting an all-time high, according to Google Trends data.
Over the past five years, global search interest for “onchain” mostly stayed below 25 out of 100, with a temporary spike to around 30 in March.
However, between May 26 and June 1, interest in “onchain” soared to a perfect score of 100.
This surge indicates that “onchain,” once just tech jargon, is now becoming widespread knowledge.
“Once tech jargon, ‘on-chain’ is now widely known. The next step is to record everything on-chain. The learning phase is over. A new era is coming,” said Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant.
Interestingly, Nigeria showed the highest search interest in “onchain” over the past 30 days, followed by Afghanistan and Ethiopia.
Nigerians who searched for “onchain” also explored related terms such as “onchain token,” “onchain coin,” “onchain crypto,” and “onchain summer,” the latter being a marketing slogan used by Coinbase to promote its Ethereum layer-2 network, Base.
The increase in onchain interest is tied to significant advancements in the field.
In late April, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund became the largest treasury fund tokenized on a blockchain, managing $459.9 million in assets.
This surpassed Franklin Templeton, which held the second position with $357.7 million.
Additionally, Ethereum layer-2 blockchain Starknet announced a partnership with AI firm Giza in May to incorporate AI agents on its blockchain.
These agents will autonomously perform onchain activities like optimizing yield and reallocating portfolios.
Another project, GaiaNet, raised $10 million for its AI infrastructure initiative, aiming to decentralise AI agent software onchain.
GaiaNet uses a distributed network of edge nodes controlled by individuals and businesses to host AI models, enabling each node to act as an AI twin performing tasks for its operator.
Onchain metrics are also becoming popular for predicting Bitcoin’s future.
Analysts have used various onchain indicators to gain market insights.
In May, the pseudonymous analyst ‘ELI5 of TLDR’ suggested that five out of seven onchain metrics indicate that the Bitcoin bull run might just be beginning.
Glassnode analysts also noted that the Supply Last Active Age Band metric, which examines how long Bitcoin has been inactive onchain, suggests a significant upward movement for the cryptocurrency.
As reported, digital asset investment products saw $185 million in inflows last week, marking the fourth consecutive week of positive investment trends.
In total, these products attracted $2 billion in inflows in May, pushing year-to-date inflows past the $15 billion mark to an all-time high.
Although weekly volumes dropped to $8 billion from the previous week’s $13 billion, the consistent inflows show sustained investor interest in digital assets.
