From ‘Is Bitcoin illegal?' to 'Is a Bitcoin miner using my PC?', the questions the US public ask search engines are revealing.

If you browse my Macbook Air’s search history, you’ll find all the cryptocurrency websites I’ve visited and questions I’ve asked Google. You’d learn a lot about me; what cryptocurrencies I like, which exchange is my favourite and that I listen to far too much Korean Pop music.

When we use Google’s search engine, we’ve allowed Google and their 3rd parties to see our searches, those 3rd parties know what was searched, but not who made the searches. Using these 3rd party tools, we can take a look at the common questions being asked about Bitcoin in the United States.

Questions the US Public Asks About Bitcoin:

What does a Bitcoin look like?
What is Bitcoin backed by?
Is Bitcoin a scam?
Is Bitcoin still a thing?

The Types of Questions Being Asked:

“What” questions are the most popular as searchers try to understand the various functionalities, data, inputs, outputs and intended uses of blockchain technology, something that to many is a completely foreign concept.

“Is” questions such as “Is Bitcoin legal?” are very commonly searched for along with questions about Bitcoin mining. Some of the public question whether Bitcoin is a scam or “is Bitcoin a good investment?”

Bitcoin investment questions and as a topic online is very popular, reaching peak interest with the US public in early May 2017 and declining in June 2017 as “Ethereum Investment” took over as the leading crypto investment topic. As of late June 2017, "Litecoin Investment" is trending higher than both Bitcoin & Ethereum.

"What?" and "If?" Questions are more commonly searched for than "Who?" and "Which?"

Questions about Bitcoin’s Legality

A significant number of people in the US worry about the legal implications of purchasing and holding Bitcoin.

2,380 people ask Google whether Bitcoin is legal nationally or in their home state.
The public in California and New York were more concerned than other states about the legality of Bitcoin.
180 searchers worry “whether Bitcoin is taxable”, or if “the IRS wonder where bitcoin came from” and “is bitcoin traceable by police”
230 US searchers per month ask whether “bitcoin is a scam” and a further 5 rather mischievous individuals ask “how to scam others when they buy bitcoin”.

The Full List of Questions Asked by the US Public

If you are interested in the full dataset of questions the US or Global public asks Google about Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency please contact me at sunlounging@gmail.com. I can send you search data from any country on any currency or topic.