Where are digital currencies taking off in the US?
It turns out that America might be a crypto-country, with approximately 59.1 million Americans owning some form of crypto, according to a recent Finder study. But where is cryptocurrency making the largest inroads? To find out, we dug into Google Search Trends and created an overall interest in crypto rank based on search interest for specific currencies and memecoins, and combined this with the availability of crypto infrastructure (Bitcoin ATMs and establishments that accept crypto) in each state. These were the results.
Top 5 states interested in cryptocurrencies
It may come as no surprise that crypto is most popular the further west you travel, with seven of the top 10 states (all of the top 5) with the most search interest in cryptocurrencies being located west of the Mississippi.
1. California
California is home to Silicon Valley and to the highest interest in cryptocurrency in the United States, with an “interest in crypto score” of 40.9.
Leading the way for California’s crypto interest are in memecoins, with the Golden State having the highest interest across the top five memecoins, with an average interest of 80.4.
California’s interest in cryptocurrencies score of 86.6, which was the average of search interest across the top five cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, etc), is good enough for the second-highest spot on the list.
The final factor that sees California attain the highest “interest in crypto score” comes from the state’s search interest in crypto — that is people’s search interest in the terms crypto or cryptocurrency — with an average score of 77.5 (5th highest in the nation).
2. Nevada
Living up to it’s nickname of the Silver State, Nevada comes in second place for interest in crypto with a score of 40.7.
However, Nevada actually has the highest search interest in actual cryptocurrencies, with a search interest in cryptocurrencies score of 88.
The state ranks 3rd for search interest in crypto (85) and 7th for peoples interest in memecoins (61.2).
3. Alaska
Our final podium finisher is the first of two states in the top 10 outside of the Contiguous United States, with Alaska having an interest in crypto with a score of 39.5.
Alaskans actually have the highest search interest in both the crypto and cryptocurrency search terms, with a score of 100.
As far as search interest for specific cryptocurrencies, Alaska only scores 77.2, good for 6th on the list. They also seem to be out on memecoins, with a score of 40.8 — 31st in the nation.
4. Washington
Washington comes in with an overall interest score of 39, good enough for 4th place.
As far as the specifics are concerned, Washington ranks 3rd for search interest in cryptocurrencies (84.6), 4th for search interest in crypto (79) and 5th for search interest in memecoins.
5. Hawaii
Closing out the top five states with the highest interest scores for crypto is our second state outside the lower 48, with Hawaii scoring 37.7.
This was done with a 2nd place finish for search interest in crypto (86), the 5th spot for search interest in cryptocurrencies (80.6) and the 27th rank for search interest in memecoins (43.6).
DogeCoin is the most popular memecoin
Of the top 5 memecoins with the highest market cap according to CoinMarketCap, DogeCoin was the most searched memecoin in all 50 states and D.C.
DogeCoin was the most popular in Washington with the highest search interest of 100, followed by California and North Dakota tied for second at 98.
West Virginia had the least interest in DogeCoin with a search interest of 41, followed by Mississippi with an interest of 56.
Top 5 States with the best crypto infrastructure
Being able to search and buy crypto is one thing but, which states are best equipped to help you transact or use Bitcoin?
1. New Hampshire
New Hampshire ranks number one on the list for overall crypto infrastructure with a score of 36.8. New Hampshire boasts 72 Bitcoin ATMs and 102 crypto establishments and with a population of 1,377,529 that works out to 5.2 Bitcoin ATMs and 7.4 crypto establishments per 100,000 people.
2. Nevada
With an overall crypto infrastructure score of 29.3 is Nevada in 2nd place, with 239 Bitcoin ATMs and 112 crypto establishments. With a population of 3,104,614 that works out to 7.7 Bitcoin ATMs and 3.6 crypto establishments per 100k people.
3. Kansas
In the three spot is Kansas, with an overall crypto infrastructure score of 29.3. Kansas has 197 Bitcoin ATMs and 125 crypto establishments and with a population of 2,937,880, this equates to 6.7 Bitcoin ATMs and 4.3 crypto establishments per 100k people.
4. New Mexico
With 235 Bitcoin ATMs and 22 crypto establishments, New Mexico gets an overall crypto infrastructure score of 28.2. With a population of 2,117,522 that works out to 11.1 Bitcoin ATMs and 1 crypto establishment per 100k people.
5. Florida
Rounding out the top five is Florida with 2,007 Bitcoin ATMs and 343 crypto establishments and an overall crypto infrastructure score of 26.1. Its population of 21,538,187 means they have 9.3 Bitcoin ATMs and 1.6 crypto establishments per 100k people.
Where crypto is the most mainstream?
With all of the above considered, which state has seen crypto breakthrough into the mainstream the most?
1. Nevada
Nevada may be the Silver State but it takes the gold overall with a score of 70. This is based on:
Search interest in crypto: 85.0
Search interest in cryptocurrencies: 88.0
Search interest in memecoins: 61.2
Bitcoin ATMS per 100k people: 7.7
Crypto establishments per 100k people: 3.6
2. New Hampshire
Heading to the Northeast we find out 2nd overall ranked state of New Hampshire, with a score of 63.6, which is the result of:
Search interest in crypto: 60.0
Search interest in cryptocurrencies: 58.8
Search interest in memecoins: 30.2
Bitcoin ATMS per 100k people: 5.2
Crypto establishments per 100k people: 7.4
3. Florida
Florida rounds out the top three with a total score of 61.9 based upon:
Search interest in crypto: 74.0
Search interest in cryptocurrencies: 73.6
Search interest in memecoins: 63.0
Bitcoin ATMS per 100k people: 9.3
Crypto establishments per 100k people: 1.6
4. California
The Golden State ranks 4th with a total score of 60.3 after scoring:
Search interest in crypto: 77.5
Search interest in cryptocurrencies: 86.6
Search interest in memecoins: 80.4
Bitcoin ATMS per 100k people: 6.3
Crypto establishments per 100k people: 1.6
5. New Jersey
And closing out the top five isNew Jeresy with a total score of 59.1 after finishing with:
Search interest in crypto: 75.0
Search interest in cryptocurrencies: 82.8
Search interest in memecoins: 58.8
Bitcoin ATMS per 100k people: 8.4
Crypto establishments per 100k people: .9
Methodology
To measure the states where cryptocurrency is becoming mainstream, Finder collected Google search interest data in crypto terms, along with data on the number of Bitcoin ATMs and crypto establishments in each state. We gave higher scores to states with a higher interest in cryptocurrencies or a higher number of crypto establishments per capita.
Scoring was determined as follows:
Interest in Cryptocurrency (50 points)
Search interest in crypto (20 points)
“Cryptocurrency”
“Crypto”
Search interest in cryptocurrencies (20 points)
“Bitcoin”
“Ethereum”
“Tether”
“Binance Coin”
“Cardano”
Search interest in “memecoins” (10 points)
“Dogecoin”
“Shiba Inu”
“MonaCoin”
“CUMROCKET”
“Hoge Finance”
Crypto infrastructure rank (50 points)
Bitcoin ATMs per 100k people (25 points)
Crypto establishments per 100k people (25 points)
Google search trends were for the one-year period from July 22, 2020 to July 21, 2021.
The number of Bitcoin ATMs per state was sourced from Coin ATM Radar on July 21, 2021. The number of crypto establishments was sourced from coinmap on July 23, 2021, and does not include Bitcoin ATMs (which were already counted by Coin ATM radar).
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Richard Laycock is Finder’s NYC-based senior content marketing manager & insights editor, spending the last decade data diving, writing and editing articles about all things personal finance. His musings can be found across the web including on NASDAQ, MoneyMag, Yahoo Finance and Travel Weekly. Richard studied Media at Macquarie University, including a semester abroad at The Missouri School of Journalism (MIZZOU).
Every 3 months, Finder empanels a range of industry specialists to get a pulse on what the future holds for crypto. This is a summary of those findings.
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