Data from Google Trends’ search analytics resource indicates that internet googling of ‘bitcoin’ (BTC) is approaching a monthly high as of today, June 24.
According to the data, searches for bitcoin are continuing their ascent in the week after the unveiling of Facebook’s new cryptocurrency and blockchain-powered financial infrastructure project, Libra, even as searches for Libra itself have tapered off since June 18 — the date the white paper for the forthcoming token was published.
Google trends data for search terms ‘bitcoin’ vs. ‘libra.’ As of June 24 2019
As Cointelegraph noted yesterday, from a wider perspective, the number of Google searches for “bitcoin” remain only around 10% of what they were in 2017 — the year of the top coin’s historic bull run, which peaked at $20,000 in December of that year.
The resurgent public interest is seemingly correlated with the renewed bull market, with bitcoin is currently trading at $10,881, up almost 35% on the month, according to coin360 data.
By country, the top five nations currently googling bitcoin are Nigeria, South Africa, Austria, Switzerland and Ghana — as compared with Uruguay, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Albania and Panama for Libra.
As Cointelegraph noted yesterday, the fact that Google trends data for bitcoin remains well below its former peak apparently suggests that retail FOMO has not yet become a major driver of the coin’s renewed price momentum. Instead, several parameters indicate that institutional demand for bitcoin is increasing in lockstep, and that network fundamentals are hitting all-time-highs.
While high-profile industry figures such as Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin have critiqued Libra over its lack of decentralization, researchers at top crypto exchange Binance, have proposed that the social media giant’s token could spark additional volume in the cryptocurrency space.
At press time, BTC/USD is consolidating under the $11,000 mark — up over 3% over the past 24 hours, according to Cointelegraph’s bitcoin price index.
