Introduction
Introducing the Bitcoin Popularity Index (BPI), the first comprehensive search study of its kind. This index was created in an attempt to measure Bitcoin’s global reach and impact through a broad analysis of Google searches.
Unlike many studies that provide absolute data or combine different aspects of cryptocurrency, the BPI data aims to provide specific insight into interest in Bitcoin by taking into account factors such as language diversity, Google’s browser dominance and population size. This approach allows us to gauge not only raw interest, but also the relative intensity of Bitcoin involvement in different countries. We can therefore highlight which countries punch above their weight, relatively speaking.
While not intended to be a definitive answer, the BPI serves as a useful exercise—perhaps the best snapshot we have amid imperfect data. By integrating these different elements, the Bitcoin Popularity Index offers a unique perspective, moving away from generic metrics to provide a richer, more contextual understanding of how Bitcoin adoption is progressing globally.
You can download the infographic here.
Key findings
- The US scores the highest number of searches with 14,432,650 searches per month, closely followed by Brazil with 12,400,260. Germany, USA and Turkey complete the top 5.
- The top 7 positions and 8 of the top 10 are occupied by Western European countries (according to The regional definitions of EuroVoc).
- “Western” countries around the world have an average BPI of around 3,720 (compared to 1,250 elsewhere), indicating relatively high popularity of Bitcoin.
- Africa has the lowest BPI scores of the continents. This is not surprising as internet penetration in Africa is only 40%.
- The most prominent Bitcoin questions are contests, and more often than not the price of Bitcoin against the dollar. However, in Egypt, bitcoin is more often priced in gold bars rather than the dollar or Egyptian pound.
- The total number of monthly Bitcoin-related searches is almost 77 million, while direct searches for “Bitcoin” approach almost 10 million.
- The ratio of Bitcoin to Ethereum queries is 9:1.
A comparison of continents
Oceania leads with the highest average BPI of around 4,901, indicating very strong Bitcoin popularity in this region. This data comes from just two countries (New Zealand and Australia), both of which benefit from high internet penetration.
Europe follows with an average BPI of 3,719 from 41 countries, demonstrating the relative strength of Bitcoin popularity across the continent and placing it well above most other regions.
The top 50 countries
Countries 1-15
Countries 16-32
Countries 33-50
Methodology of data collection
- Data Selection: Since Google withholds all search query data for cryptocurrency-related terms, identifying the most reliable data set was important. In an effort to be as complete as possible, datasets from SEMRUSH, Ahrefs, DataOs, Moz and Google Trends were all downloaded and examined. SEMRUSH was found to be the most reliable based on its accuracy and depth, which is consistent with SparkToro’s research as well as SEMRUSH’s own research on search volume data.
- Data comparison and selection: Although results were often largely comparable between SEMRUSH and Ahrefs, the two largest datasets available. There were significant differences between the two for many terms. The data for some countries showed a difference of more than 80%. This variability made it impractical to combine the data or fill gaps for countries where SEMRUSH did not provide data, as the differences were too large to be reliably pooled.
- Query configuration: Broad search queries for ‘Bitcoin’ and ‘BTC’ were used in alphabetical groups including Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, Cyrillic, Japanese, Devanagari, Perso-Arabic, Cyrillic, Tamil, Sinhala, Chinese, and Thai.
- Integration of demographic and search engine data: Population figures were integrated World metersand Google’s market share data comes from Statcounter. For the purposes of this study, Google’s market share was recalculated to 100% for all countries to standardize the impact of search engine use on the data.
- Per Capita Search Volume Calculation: Using the above data, a per capita search volume was calculated for each country. This step was crucial for normalizing the data across different populations, allowing for a comparable comparison of Bitcoin holdings regardless of country size.
- Data visualization: The final results were categorized and plotted on a Chloropleth map using the visualization tool Data packaging. This allowed for a clear visual representation of Bitcoin’s popularity in different countries, highlighting regions with particularly high or low engagement levels.
The percentage of a country’s population that uses the internet is not included in the calculations because people without internet access are less likely to show interest in Bitcoin. The most recently published internet adoption rate in Africa is 40%, similar to the rates in Europe and the United States of America in 2005. While this rate remains low, it is increasing, as is Bitcoin adoption.
Scope of Data and Limitations
The Bitcoin Popularity Index (BPI) provides extensive insights; however, it is limited by the lack of data from 77 countries, including China, Iran, Cuba and 33 African countries – mainly Tanzania, Kenya and Sudan. This lack of data from key regions may result in an incomplete global perspective on Bitcoin involvement.
Additionally, the BPI is based on third-party estimates, as Google does not share specific search query data for Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. VPNs can also play a role by obscuring where searches come from, but this is not expected to have had too much of an impact on the results.
In a small number of countries the data is incorrect, as ‘BTC’ is the name of a telephone company in the Bahamas, an internet provider in Botswana and a shopping center in Slovenia.
Summary
The Bitcoin Popularity Index (BPI) provides a detailed overview of global interest in Bitcoin through the lens of Google searches. While this research uses the best available data, it is important to note that it does not aim to definitively answer which country has the strongest Bitcoin adoption. Instead, the BPI serves as a benchmark for the public interest and engagement with Bitcoin in different countries.
The data shows that Oceania has the strongest BPI scores, although Europe shows the greatest strength across the board, with 41 out of 43 countries performing strongly. It is also clear that search data is stronger in countries with higher internet penetration, creating a data bias that favors such countries.
A valuable follow-up to this study would be to investigate other metrics that could provide further insight into Bitcoin adoption. Some examples of these metrics are the number of Bitcoin nodes, Bitcoin Lightning Network nodes, or hashrate distribution. Such data points could provide a more comprehensive understanding of how deeply Bitcoin has penetrated different regions and help paint a fuller picture of its global adoption.
Furthermore, the goal is to make the BPI an annual calculation, providing a comparative approach to how Bitcoin interest and adoption is evolving on an annual basis in all countries surveyed.