Bitcoin's mass adoption is still a dream, reveals data

The mass adoption of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies has yet to be achieved, according to several metrics tracked by The Block Research.

Google searches for "bitcoin," the number of new Twitter followers of crypto exchanges, views of bitcoin's Wikipedia page, and bitcoin/USD trade volumes — are nowhere close to their 2017 figures when bitcoin hit a record high of $20,000 in mid-December.

Google searches for bitcoin, for instance, peaked during the week of December 17 2017. So far this year, people have searched for bitcoin eight times less as compared to the peak week.

Source: The Block Research, Google Trends

The number of new Twitter followers of crypto exchanges, such as Binance and Coinbase, is also growing at a slower pace relative to the bull run of 2017. In January 2018, exchanges picked up on average 254,000 new Twitter followers per week, while the average addition in 2020 so far has been 5,340 per week—a 50X drop. 

Similarly, Wikipedia views of the page "bitcoin" are 31 times lower than the peak week of December 3, 2017. As for BTC/USD trade volumes, it peaked during the week of December 17, 2017, at nearly $17 billion. While the average weekly trade volumes in 2020 year-to-date have been $2.5 billion — i.e., almost seven times lower than the peak period. 

Overall, these metrics reveal that there are fewer market participants in the crypto market today as compared to December 2017. However, as The Block's Larry Cermak notes, the crypto space's market structure has matured drastically in the last two years and has become more institutionalized. It means when another rally takes place, the market will be much more ready.

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