key takeaways
- According to Google data, interest in cryptocurrency is down 16.6% worldwide this year compared to the 2021 average
- The price of bitcoin is down 52.7% this year, while layoffs and liquidations have hit the industry as well
- The biggest drop in interest is the Netherlands, with a decrease of 37%, followed by Ireland and New Zealand.
- The Central African Republic bucked the trend, with 592% interest following its government’s announcement that bitcoin would be legal tender in April.
- Other African countries – Morocco and Kenya – are next, with impressive jumps of 61% and 55%, respectively, in interest over the previous year
- Crypto interest in developing countries has been stronger than in the developed world, with many countries growing this year despite recession
The crypto market has turned sharply downward in 2022. The price of bitcoin – which is no stranger to volatility – is currently down 52% from the $47,700 level it traded on New Year’s Day.
But it’s not just price fluctuations. We’ve seen liquidations of major players as the transition swirls – notably the collapse of former top 10 coin Luna and the death spiral of stablecoin UST with it in May, but also bankruptcy filings for crypto lenders Celsius and Voyager Digital, to name a few. to keep .
Unfortunately, layoffs have hit the industry as well. None more high profile than Coinbase, which laid off 18% of its employees (1,110 employees) just a few months after spending. millions On a Superbowl ad.
So we were curious — has worldwide interest plummeted in response to the approaching bull market hysteria this year? If so, which countries have lost the most interest in crypto?
Cryptocurrency Interest Falls Significantly in 2022
The decline in interest worldwide is 16.6%, which is quite a big drop. The worst-hit country is the Netherlands, which has seen a decrease of 37%, followed by European counterpart Ireland with a 30% dropoff and New Zealand with a 28% drop.
Notably, the United States is followed by a decline of more than 26% as of 2021 search volume. Since the US is still driving such a large portion of the market’s volume, it’s a symbol of how different the market is today compared to last year, which we have seen has led to layoffs and price drops.
Interestingly, the most resilient countries in terms of crypto interest are mostly developing countries – Morocco, Kenya, Sri Lanka Nigeria and Colombia are all among countries where interest has really increased. For Morocco and Kenya, the two African countries have seen jumps of 61% and 55%, respectively.
Interest has fallen even further compared to the previous month
The bear market has really kicked into gear since May, when Terra went down, and accordingly the past few months have been brutal. Looking at the decline in July alone, unlike the whole of 2022, the decline is worse. The world average shows that there are 63% fewer searches for cryptocurrencies this month compared to the 2022 average.
New Zealand, Spain, Venezuela, and – somewhat surprisingly – the United States and Canada, are among the countries seeing the biggest declines in interest. US searches are down 59%, with Canada trailing at 58%.
el salvador
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele often tweets that his government is “buying dips” when bitcoin is falling. It appears that citizens of his country, where bitcoin has been legal tender since last year, are not of the same opinion.
Interest in bitcoin fell more in El Salvador in July than in any other country, according to Google Search Trends. When Bukele announced it as legal tender in 2021, some form of decline can be expected, given the increase in searches, although the 63% drop is related and the damaging effects of the bear market and onboarding highlights the challenges of both. Bitcoin population in El Salvador.
Taking the full picture, interest during 2022 has fallen 17.9% compared to 2021, which is not the same as the 64% drop in July – but a huge drop nonetheless.
Central African Republic
One nation was omitted from the above graph for scale purposes. And that’s because the Central African Republic blows those numbers out of the water. Interest in crypto in Jul-22 is 715% (592% for 2022 overall) in Jul-22 compared to the number in 2021.
It certainly is, as they became the second country to declare bitcoin as legal tender in April. Not only that, but they went even further – announcing the marking of the country’s rich resources (diamonds, uranium, oil) with a newly launched cryptocurrency “Sango Coin”.
Yet among the world’s poorest countries, and only 10% have Internet access, whether this is a prudent initiative is a story for another day.