Key Points
- Global interest in cryptocurrencies is down 16.6% this year compared with the 2021 average, according to Google data.
- Bitcoin’s price has fallen 52.70% this year, and the sector has seen layoffs and bankruptcy filings.
- Interest has dropped most in the Netherlands, with a 37% decline, followed by Ireland and New Zealand.
- The Central African Republic bucks the trend, with interest rising 592% after its government declared Bitcoin legal tender in April.
- Other African countries — Morocco and Kenya — also showed notable increases, with interest up 61% and 55% year-on-year, respectively.
- Cryptocurrency enthusiasm has remained stronger in many emerging markets than in developed countries, and several nations have seen growth despite the broader downturn.
Cryptocurrency markets turned sharply downward in 2022. Bitcoin — a asset familiar with volatility — is currently about 52% below the roughly $47,700 level where it traded on New Year’s Day.
But prices aren’t the only thing that swung wildly. We’ve seen major liquidations and contagion effects, most notably the collapse of Terra (previously a top-10 project) and the associated UST stablecoin crisis in May. Several crypto lenders, including Celsius and Voyager Digital, filed for bankruptcy in the months that followed.
Unfortunately, layoffs have swept through the industry as well. Coinbase cut 18% of its workforce (1,110 employees) just months after spending millions on a Super Bowl advertisement.
So we asked: has public interest in cryptocurrencies dropped worldwide in response to the end of the bull market? And if so, which countries have seen the biggest declines in crypto interest?
Crypto Interest Falls Sharply in 2022
Worldwide interest has dropped by 16.6% — a substantial decline. The Netherlands is the hardest hit, with a dramatic 37% fall, followed by Ireland with a 30% decrease and New Zealand with a 28% decline.
The United States also shows a marked drop, with searches down more than 26% compared with 2021. Because the U.S. still accounts for a large share of market volume, that decline underscores how different market conditions are now compared with last year and helps explain the waves of layoffs and price collapses we’ve seen.
Notably, the most resilient interest levels are concentrated in emerging markets. Morocco, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Colombia rank among the countries where interest actually increased year-on-year. In particular, Morocco and Kenya saw strong growth — Morocco up 61% and Kenya up 55% compared with the previous year.
Interest Fell Further Over the Past Month
The bear market has accelerated since May, following Terra’s collapse, and the recent months have been especially brutal. July’s declines are even more severe relative to the full-year 2022 average: global searches for cryptocurrencies this month are 63% below the 2022 average.
New Zealand, Spain, Venezuela and — somewhat surprisingly — the United States and Canada are among the countries seeing the largest month-to-date drops in interest. U.S. searches are down 59%, with Canada close behind at 58%.
El Salvador
El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, often tweeted that his government “buys the dip” when Bitcoin falls. Yet residents in the country where Bitcoin has been legal tender since last year appear less enthusiastic.
Google Trends data show that interest in Bitcoin in El Salvador fell more in July compared to 2021 than it did in any other country. Some decline was expected after the spike in searches when Bukele declared Bitcoin legal tender in 2021, but a 63% drop is striking. It highlights both the damaging effects of the bear market and the difficulties of driving widespread adoption of Bitcoin among the population.
For the whole of 2022, interest in El Salvador is down 17.9% compared with 2021 — not as steep as July’s 64% decline but still a substantial fall.
Central African Republic
One country stood out from the previous charts for scale: the Central African Republic. Interest there surged dramatically — searches were up 715% on July 22 compared with the same date in 2021, and up 592% for the whole of 2022 versus 2021.
That spike follows the country’s decision in April to make Bitcoin legal tender, making it the second nation to do so. Officials have gone further, announcing plans to tokenize national natural resources (diamonds, uranium, oil) using a recently launched cryptocurrency called “Sango Coin.”
However, the Central African Republic remains among the world’s poorest nations, with only about 10% internet penetration. That raises questions about the practical viability and broader impact of such initiatives for most of the population.