Managing expectations about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies

in #bitcoin7 years ago (edited)

While it's easy to get caught up in the hype of the cryptocurrency community, there is still a ways to go before cryptocurrency sees mass adoption around the world.


Est. Reading Time: 1 min


Source: GIPHY


Bitcoin hit the historic $6k milestone today, valuing at a market cap of $100 billion. For cryptocurrency enthusiasts, especially anyone holding Bitcoin, this is massive news for a variety of reasons.

But it also got me thinking: How many people own Bitcoin? How popular are cryptocurrencies? When I go online, I'm confronted with ads for exchanges, I read articles about cryptocurrency, and I'm generally tapped into the conversation. But I can probably count on one hand the number of people I know offline in my immediate social circle that own Bitcoin or any alt-coins.

According to Internet traffic metrics estimated by Quantcast, Coinbase, for example, has an estimated 1 million unique U.S. visitors a month, or 0.31 percent of the U.S. population. This is just a portion of the traffic, since cryptocurrency is a global marketplace, but it is one of the most popular exchanges in the U.S. right now.

Screen Shot 2017-10-20 at 8.46.42 PM.png

By comparison, Poloniex has an estimated 300 thousand unique U.S. visitors a month, or 0.093 percent of the U.S. population.

Screen Shot 2017-10-20 at 8.50.41 PM.png

CoinMarketCap, a popular destination for cryptocurrency enthusiasts, to use another metric, reaches over 400 thousand unique monthly visitors in the U.S., or 0.12 percent of the U.S. population.

Screen Shot 2017-10-20 at 8.57.47 PM.png

Steemit.com also has a similar reach in the U.S.

When we look at Google trends to gauge worlwide search interest in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, it's clearly on an upward trajectory.

Screen Shot 2017-10-20 at 8.59.21 PM.png

The hottest regions for Google searches of Bitcoin are Nigeria, China, Ghana, Slovenia, and Bolivia.

Screen Shot 2017-10-20 at 9.18.01 PM.png

Needless to say, there is a lot to be excited about, but it's good to remind ourselves that we still have ways to go.


If you liked this post, please consider sharing, commenting, and upvoting.

Thank you for reading,

- Josh


More Posts by Josh Peterson



View History


View Steemit blockchain activity/edit history | View draft edit history on Github


Josh Peterson is a 2016 Robert Novak Journalism Program Fellow and a writer living in Denver, CO.* *Follow Josh on Steemit and Twitter. Keybase for secure chat. PGP Fingerprint: 4507 3000 1A40 2691 DAB8 ED65 A3EA 3629 73FD B7FF.


Cryptocurrency Wallets

  • BTC: 14LE7Jv4NZXgtWq876RUdSUVKfZs7rcnzf
  • ETH: 0x4Dc807c3409Ba225d7Fc07fFd97d219613E11d31
  • DASH: XhMDF7PjkYsT1wiYREDDewxnDPNSjNWpc8

Need a Bitcoin wallet? Use my referral link to download a mobile Airbitz wallet.


For more information on STEEM and Steemit

If you're new to Steem and Steemit and would like to know more, check out the platform's FAQ, and Steem.Center, a Steemit-focused wiki built and maintained by the platform's users. Also check out @minnowsupport.

If you're not on Steemit, but would like another way to show your appreciation for this piece besides sharing it on Facebook or Twitter, or you'd like to comment on it, please consider signing up for a Steemit account and voting for this piece. It doesn't get cost anything to sign up, and votes are really important because that's how I get paid on here. Thank you in advance. - Josh

Signature created by @joshpeterson. If you'd like a copy of the code to make your own extension, click here.


Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Sort:  

The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @joshpeterson to be original material and upvoted it!

ezgif.com-resize.gif

To call @OriginalWorks, simply reply to any post with @originalworks or !originalworks in your message!

To enter this post into the daily RESTEEM contest, upvote this comment! The user with the most upvotes on their @OriginalWorks comment will win!

For more information, Click Here!
Special thanks to @reggaemuffin for being a supporter! Vote him as a witness to help make Steemit a better place!

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.17
TRX 0.15
JST 0.027
BTC 60654.57
ETH 2343.25
USDT 1.00
SBD 2.48