Google search interest for the term “onchain” surged to an all-time high in May, according to Google Trends data. 

Over the past five years, worldwide search interest in the term hovered mostly under 25 out of 100, with a brief spike to around 30 in March.

However, between May 26 and June 1, search interest in “onchain” reached 100 on the index.

“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 CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju in a June 3 post on X. 

Data shows that Nigeria has shown the most interest in the term over the past 30 days, followed by Afghanistan and Ethiopia.

Users who searched the query on Google also often searched for the terms “onchain token,” “onchain coin,” “onchain crypto,” and “onchain summer” — the latter is a slogan adopted to help market Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network Base.

Jesse Pollak, the creator of Base, noted in March that the term “onchain” performs better in consumer testing than any other word that people use for crypto.

So what is happening onchain right now?

Biggest on-chain tokenized treasury fund

In late April, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund became the largest treasury fund tokenized on a blockchain. The fund currently has assets under management of $459.9 million, beating second-place Franklin Templeton at $357.7 million.

StarkWare, GaiaNet to bring AI agents on-chain

In May, Ethereum layer-2 blockchain Starknet, in partnership with AI firm Giza, said it will soon allow AI agents on its blockchain that can autonomously perform onchain activities for users, such as optimizing yield and re-allocating portfolios.

Weeks later, GaiaNet raised $10 million for its AI infrastructure project, which aims to decentralize AI agent software onchain. GaiaNet utilizes a distributed network of edge nodes controlled by individuals and businesses to host AI models based on their expertise, with each node acting as an AI twin performing tasks for its operator.

Onchain metrics paint rosy picture for Bitcoin

During the month of May, several analysts used onchain metrics to predict the future trajectory of Bitcoin (BTC).

Related: On-chain messages on Ethereum uncover tales of love, loss and scams

On May 19, pseudonymous crypto analyst known as ‘ELI5 of TLDR’ suggested that five out of seven onchain metrics currently show that the Bitcoin bull run may just be getting started. The metrics included the Bitcoin MVRV Z score, Puell Multiple and market dominance, among others.

Days later, Glassnode analysts suggested that Bitcoin is preparing for a “bigger move” to the upside, citing the Supply Last Active Age Band metric, which looks at how long it has been since Bitcoin has moved on-chain based on different levels of “supply last active.”

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