Despite the 2018 U.S. congressional elections serving as a referendum on President Trump, more people searched for “Bitcoin” than the election results. Or Kim Kardashian.
That’s according to research conducted by YouGov on behalf of Coinbase, which paints a surprisingly bright picture of the current state of cryptocurrency awareness.
Bitcoin Awareness Is on The Rise
According to the data, 2018 was the year when Bitcoin awareness approached the tipping point for the first time. As per the findings, 58% of Americans now say they’ve heard of Bitcoin. Meanwhile, more Google searches were found for “Bitcoin” than high-volume search terms like “election results” and “royal wedding.”
What’s more, Bitcoin is now a substantially more queried search term than even Kim Kardashian. At the time of writing, according to Google Trends, Bitcoin has the benefit of a 3:1 search ratio over the celebrity who “broke the internet.”
As noted by Coinbase, what better way to measure the strength of Bitcoin’s pulse than by comparing it to the vital social organ that is Kim Kardashian.
“On average, Google users have searched for Bitcoin more often than they sought out info on Kim K., and that number is only trending upwards. In late June — as prices climbed — Google searches for Bitcoin surged to almost three times higher than searches for Kardashian.”
Bitcoin Flexes Its Dominant Brand Recognition
Of the Americans polled in the study, 58% say they’ve heard of Bitcoin. That’s when they’re given a multiple choice list of various cryptocurrencies beforehand. Unprompted, the results change, but Bitcoin’s dominance remains, with 37% of people still naming BTC before any other.
The highest concentration of crypto holders can be found in California, New Jersey, and Washington, with New York close behind in the fourth spot.
When ranking for the dollar value of those crypto holdings, however, that order changes. According to the YouGov data, the largest average value of crypto owned per holder is found in Delaware, California, Nevada, and again, New York.
Some more numbers from the findings: 70% of U.S states have now enacted pro-cryptocurrency legislation, and 15% of those polled say they have “intent to buy” at some point in the next six months.
When one respondent was asked why they were interested in cryptocurrency, they said it made a lot more sense than investing in bonds, stocks, and over-priced real-estate:
“A lot of the best opportunities in the stock market are only available to accredited investors, which is a tiny part of the American population. Cryptocurrency is available to everyone.”
‘There Aren’t Many Better Benchmarks Than Kim Kardashian’
Believe it or not, Bitcoin’s sudden blossoming might not be a good thing. At least, that holds true for its price movement, which was growing too quickly according to Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsely.
That cautious sentiment turned out to be well-warranted, as the crypto market soon went on to lose $83 billion in a day.
It should also be noted that the breadth of the Coinbase/YouGov study was not that wide. Only 2,000 internet users over the age of 18 were polled, so these numbers could fluctuate greatly upon further inspection.
Regardless, prices can be pumped, but Google searches are harder to manipulate. As Coinbase says:
“If you want to get a sense of how interested America is in a topic, there aren’t many better benchmarks than Kim Kardashian.”
If that’s true, then Bitcoin is so hot right now.
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