Despite price crash, Bitcoin searches on Google rose by 156% in June

Temitope Akintade

According to data from Google Trends, search interest in the keyword ‘Bitcoin’ has hit the 100 mark between June 12-18. A 35% growth from the peak of 74 that was recorded a year ago, in June 2022.

This indicates that despite a decline that has triggered significant corrections in the market, interest in the flagship digital asset might still be growing.  

The Google Trends data are metrics used by Google to measure how a keyword is searched on the internet. This is used in relative to the period when the searched keyword had an interest of users of Google. using a range of numbers The highest value is 100, and every other value is calculated relative to this.

The 100 score attained by Bitcoin search last week -on June 18- represents a growth of over 156% from the 39 registered as of June 5, 2022. 

Source: Google Trends

The first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin, El Salvador leads in the number of countries showing the highest interest in Bitcoin searches, at 100 while the Netherlands ranks second with a distant score of 27. Interestingly, the largest cryptocurrency market in Africa, Nigeria follows with 26.

Source: Google Trends

Switzerland holds the fourth position at 22, with the same score as Austria at fifth.

What may be responsible?

The series of massive corrections in the cryptocurrency market in the month of June has garnered reactions and remarks from all sectors and walks. This in turn has triggered more curiosity and interest, both positive and negative in the burgeoning digital asset. 

The growing interest in the asset can also be attributed to the Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) in the market. As the prices of digital assets are dropping to historical levels, there is increased investor interest.

Generally, when Bitcoin makes a price correction like this, more people usually try to get in to profit from a new rally that would come after the downturn.

El Salvador set to deploy Bitcoin payments in September despite World Bank rejection
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele delivers his annual address to the nation marking his second year in office at the Legislative Assembly in San Salvador on June 1, 2021. (Photo by MARVIN RECINOS / AFP) (Photo by MARVIN RECINOS/AFP via Getty Images)

In the case of Nigeria which occupies the third position, the curiosity is borne out of the confusion surrounding the classification of digital assets in the country.

Despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s ban on all cryptocurrency-related transactions and activities, the Nigerian Securities and Exchanges Commission released a regulatory framework, recognizing cryptocurrencies last month. And, this may have encouraged players. 

On the other hand, the global economy has been under immense pressure and all traditional markets are down. Hence, people may be searching about Bitcoin to understand its prospects as an alternative in an impending economic meltdown.

Going forward, there might be an observed correlation between Bitcoin searches and the assets’ price movement, where an increase in interest is reflected in the price. This is already coming into play as major coins are now in the green zone following a difficult weekend.

The crypto market is also expected to experience a relief subsequently. 

MicroStrategy acquires $490m worth of Bitcoin, Now Holds Over 105,000 Total

Market reactions 

The heavy sell-off in the cryptocurrency market during the weekend pushed the price of Bitcoin below the $20,000 mark – the lowest since December 2020. The yearly low was reached on Saturday at around $17,500, with all other digital assets falling. 

But, the market seems to be recovering in the new week. According to data from Coinmarketcap at press time, Bitcoin stands at $21,332, a 3.89% gain in the last 24 hours. Although its current price still represents a 5.68% loss over the previous seven days.

The second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, is climbing as well. It gained 3.53% in one day. Trading around $1,165 but 4.52% down in the last one week.


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