The price of cryptocurrencies from Bitcoin to altcoins may have diminished but it is true that there is still interest surrounding the possibility of using blockchain technology in our day to day lives. What makes India different from other countries is the fact that the country always embraced the Bitcoin ecosystem. However, things are quite different these days. For some reasons, Ethereum is becoming popular in the country. In fact, in the last five months, Ethereum has been the most searched cryptocurrency.
Ethereum topped the search volume having 34.4% share versus Bitcoin’s 29.9%. It was a study that was discovered by free internet provider Jana.
Aside from Ethereum and Bitcoin, another currency that has been getting popular in the country is BuyUCoin (NEM) that had 21.2% share. As for the rest of the other cryptocurrencies, the remaining cryptos have captured 5% or less.
The Biggest Contender out There
You can consider Ethereum as the biggest contender against Bitcoin today. In fact, what makes Ethereum different is the use of smart contracts. This means that developers can use Ethereum in different ways possible that could be adopted by different industries.
Why exactly is there a surging interest in Ethereum? One of the probable reasons is Bitmain’s Ethereum mining ASIC. With a retail of $800 on the Antminer E3 chips, this mining chip is designed specifically for mining Ethereum. It is one of the most recent news that can affect a good number of people who have interest in Ethereum. In fact, this mining chip is expected to increase its mining performance. Also, this mining chip can even drop the demand for GPUs. But as for its repercussions, it is still considered unknown.
Signs of Growth?
Does it mean that the search volume is a sign that Ethereum is going to grow even more? If you will take a look back at Bitcoin’s all-time high in December 2017, cryptocurrency searches were at its peak, According to Nathan Eagle, CEO of Jana, “search volume is a leading indicator of what has momentum and is showing signs of growth”. He also added that “It may not correspond to people buying more ethereum but there’s certainly a lot more interest”.
Drop in Interest in Recent Months on Cryptos
The cryptomarket suffered after regulatory changes were made in the early part of 2018. In fact, along with the bearish trend came in with the noticeable decline in the number of news covering cryptocurrencies.
Nathan Eagle mentioned that “the government recommending shutting down exchanges and limiting currencies altogether, coupled with the decline in prices, has led to the feverish pitch waning away dramatically”. He also believes that though there is a good amount of searches on these cryptocurrencies, we could actually be entering what a stable state look like for cryptocurrencies.
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum are among the most popular coins in the crypto market today. Given interest on these cryptocurrencies may not really be surprising. However, will this affect the price of Ethereum in a good way soon?
