When it comes to the most-searched-for question over the past year, “What is Bitcoin?” was the winning entry. After what appeared to be a lengthy period of time where Bitcoin (BTC) price was stable, a new volatility may have caused people to look up what the digital currency is.
Over on the Google Year in Search 2018 lists, they offer a number of the top search categories for the year including a “What is…?” search list. On that particular list, “What is Bitcoin?” is ranked first for the year. It’s followed by “What is racketeering,” “What is DACA,” “What is a government shutdown,” and “What is Good Friday” for the top five searches in the category.
According to Cointelegraph’s report, Bitcoin fell in terms of the “How to” searches to No. 8, though, while another cryptocurrency was at the fourth spot. “How to buy Ripple” took that distinction as it became a more attractive crypto “asset” to the general public due to social media and the regular media driving up interest.
For 2018, “Bitcoin” was also searched most of all in three places. South Africa, Ghana, and the Netherlands account for a major bulk of the internet searches about the digital currency. Overall searches for Bitcoin were down since June, but the word was still searched more often than popular singers Ariana Grande or Beyonce.
A hard fork involving Bitcoin Cash (BCH) arrived in mid-November, bringing with it an increase in Bitcoin searches. In fact, worldwide interest was said to have reached six-month highs for the search. It fell off in terms of search presence a bit in the weeks thereafter.
As of this report, the price of Bitcoin was hovering around $3,275 at the popular Coinbase exchange. It should be interesting to see what the level of search interest is for the digital currency in 2019, as proponents look towards a better year and naysayers continue to point towards its impending demise.
