Yandex research on search queries of Russians about bitcoin and mining

The cost of bitcoin is already less than 4 thousand dollars – recently it has rapidly become cheaper, and at the same time the interest of Russians in the world's most popular cryptocurrency has been falling. Yandex conducted a study and found out how Russian Bitcoin search queries have changed over the past 9 years.

According to the Bitcoin Epoch, the peak of requests about Bitcoin in the search for Yandex came in December 2017, when the cost of cryptocurrency reached a historical maximum. During this period, they asked about Bitcoin even more often than about the dollar.

“Then a sharp drop in price followed, and interest in cryptocurrency declined. This is the brightest moment in the history of Bitcoin, in any case, so far, but there were a lot of other things in it, ”the authors of the study write.

The Bitcoin network was launched on January 3, 2009. Its creator acted under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. The first time they knew about cryptocurrency only in a narrow circle, but individual requests already appeared in the search for "Yandex".

“The steady, albeit weak, flow of requests for Bitcoin becomes noticeable only in the middle of 2010 … Judging by the search data, many of those who started monitoring Bitcoin at an early stage learned about it from publishing on the Slashdot website – in July 2010 They published news about the next update in the system. A few days after that, bitcoins were asked more frequently, ”the study notes.

In 2010, the first cryptobirds began to appear, where bitcoins could be changed to the usual currency.

“The ups and downs of Bitcoin costs are becoming a powerful source of search interest and a topic for news. If we compare the graphs of the Bitcoin rate and the number of search queries about it, it is clear that the last one follows the first, ”the authors of the study write.

“Finally, in 2017 there was a boom, the scale of which does not go to any comparison with what was previously. By the end of the year, interest rates reached such a high level that out of a thousand requests to Yandex, at least two were about bitcoin – in December they even asked a little more about bitcoin than about the dollar rate, ”the document says.

Since the beginning of 2017, the cost of Bitcoin managed to grow 20 times, from 1,000 to almost 20,000 dollars, and then fall three times and stabilize. Russians' search interest followed course fluctuations, as well as high-profile events, for example, news about the activity of crypto-burgers and viral attacks.

What were Russians searching for in Yandex?

Yandex presented data on what exactly Russians were cryptocurrency in at different periods. So, in the late spring – early summer of 2017, people were actively interested in whether it was possible to make money on mining , and from January to May 2017, there was a noticeable interest in requests for easy money related to Bitcoin.

“For example, people asked about the so-called bitcoin cranes – web sites where you can get a few Satoshi for viewing ads and other simple actions. In May 2017, a sharp increase in interest in mining begins, and with it the share of queries about the profitability of this activity, specific models of video cards and mining-farm assembly features , ”the study says.

In August 2017, the cryptocurrency split into two – the original Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin cache (BCH) , and a few months later – also into Bitcoin Gold (BTG) . These events have caused a surge in requests of the Russians. China, where new bans are being introduced for cryptocurrency, also hit the top of the characteristic words.

In December last year, at the peak of the cost of bitcoin and search interest in cryptocurrency, the total share of requests like “bitcoin rate” and “what is bitcoin in simple words” exceeded half of all requests for cryptocurrency. “At the very end of 2017, the sharp rise in the cost of Bitcoin is replaced by an equally sharp decline -“ collapse ”and“ fall ”fall into the top of the most characteristic words. There are in it and " futures ", which started trading on several exchanges, " – the document says.

In the first months of 2018, search interest in cryptocurrency fell, then stagnated. In the last period, interest has weakened so much that words that have no direct relation to the topic could penetrate into the top characteristic words from the queries.

“For example, minecraft appeared here because of gaming coins, which only the name unites with cryptocurrency. Another topic typical of the late period is news about cryptocurrency terminals that appeared briefly in several Russian cities , ”said the authors of the study.