Table of Contents
Main conclusions
Interest in cryptocurrencies, according to Google data, is 16.6% lower this year compared to the 2021 world average The biggest drop in interest is from the Netherlands, down 37%, followed by Ireland and New Zealand The Central African Republic bucks the trend, with interest rising 592% after its own government announced Bitcoin would be legal tender in April Others African countries – Morocco and Kenya – are next, with impressive jumps of 61% and 55% respectively in interest from last year Interest in cryptocurrencies from developing nations has remained firmer than the developed world, with many countries increasing this year despite the downturn The cryptocurrency market has dropped sharply in 2022. The price of Bitcoin – which is no stranger to volatility – is currently 52% below the $47,700 level at which it traded in the past. New Year’s Day. But it’s not just prices that have fluctuated. We saw liquidations from major players as the contagion spread – notably with the collapse of former top 10 major coins Luna and the death spiral of its stablecoin UST in May, but also bankruptcy filings for cryptocurrency lenders Celsius. and Voyager Digital, just to name a few. Unfortunately, layoffs also swept the industry. No one is better known than Coinbase, which laid off 18% of its staff (1,110 employees) just months after spending millions on a SuperBowl ad. So we were curious – has interest dropped around the world this year in response to bull market hysteria coming to an end? If so, which countries’ interest in cryptocurrencies has dropped the most?
Interest in cryptocurrencies drops significantly in 2022
The drop in interest worldwide is 16.6%, a pretty steep drop. The worst nation is the Netherlands, with a staggering 37% drop, followed by Ireland, with a 30% drop, and New Zealand, with a 28% drop. Notably, the US is next with a drop of over 26% compared to 2021 search volume. With the US still driving such a large share of market volumes, this symbolizes how different the market is today from to last year, putting the layoffs and price collapse we’ve seen in context. Interestingly, the most resilient countries in terms of interest in cryptocurrencies are mostly developing nations – Morocco, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Colombia, all of which rank among the countries where interest has really increased. For Morocco and Kenya, the two African countries recorded jumps of 61% and 55%, respectively.
Interest in the last month has dropped further
The bear market has really been in action since May when Terra went bankrupt and consequently the last few months have been brutal. When looking at the drops in July alone, as opposed to the entire year of 2022, the drop is even worse. The world average shows that there are 63% fewer searches for cryptocurrency this month compared to the 2022 average. New Zealand, Spain, Venezuela and, surprisingly, the US and Canada are among the countries with the biggest drop in interest. US searches are down 59%, with Canada close behind at 58%.
El Salvador
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele often tweets that his government is “buying the dip” when Bitcoin is plummeting. It appears that the citizens of your country, where Bitcoin has been legal tender since last year, are not of the same opinion. According to Google search trends, interest in Bitcoin dropped further in July in El Salvador than in any other country, compared to 2021 numbers. research was inevitable when Bukele announced it as legal tender in 2021, however, a 63% drop is worrying and highlights both the detrimental effect of the bear market and the challenges of integrating the population to Bitcoin in El Salvador. Taking the whole picture, interest during 2022 as a whole is down 17.9% compared to 2021, which isn’t as stark as July’s 64% drop – but it’s still a big drop.
Central African Republic
There was one nation left out of the above charts for scaling purposes. And that’s because the Central African Republic exploded those numbers. Interest in cryptocurrencies on July 22nd increased by 715% (592% in 2022 as a whole) compared to 2021 numbers. This, of course, is because they became the second nation to declare Bitcoin legal tender in April. But not only that, they went even further – announcing the tokenization of the country’s rich resources (diamonds, uranium, oil) with a newly launched cryptocurrency “Sango Coin”. However, among the world’s poorest countries, and with only 10% of the population having access to the Internet, whether this was a prudent move is a story for another day.
