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Crypto Search Trends in 2022 – The Year in Review

Crypto Search Trends in 2022 – The Year in Review
Crypto Search Trends in 2022 – The Year in Review
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Global recession, Luna's collapse, the rise of X2E, the fall of FTX, and countless new buzzwords. The world of crypto will never be the same after 2022.

Search trends are an important indicator of the common sentiment, intent, and awareness regarding different cryptocurrencies and blockchain-related topics. Their analysis can help us identify potential opportunities or risks in the crypto market.

Our team here at CoinLedger decided that now is the perfect time to study the top crypto search trends of 2022 to see what meaning we can derive from them.

Key Findings:

  • FOMO is the buzzword of the year in the crypto community. It appeared as the #1 search trend in 16 different states. Furthermore, FOMO was a dominating top search trend in 3 states. At the same time, the search term DYOR had the biggest growth: It has grown 222% in 2022 compared with 2021.
  • FTX collapse is the most impactful crypto collapse of the year. It increased the search interest of the whole crypto industry by 3.6 points which is equal to the cumulative effect of Luna's, Celsius', and 3AC's collapses.
  • New York is a crypto trendsetter of 2022 in the U.S. 26 different crypto trends appeared first in NY and then spread to other states. New York is also the most Ethereum-obsessed state of 2022: The search phrase "Ethereum" was a top 1 search trend in NY for 15 days in 2022.
  • Nevada is the most Bitcoin-obsessed state. Nevada is the only state where Bitcoin dominated Google Trends. The search term "Bitcoin" had the highest interest in Nevada five days in a row starting June 11 when BTC lost almost 35% in a single week.
  • Dash was the most trending cryptocurrency of 2022 in the U.S. according to Google Trends data. 1,789 times it was the #1 crypto-related search term across the U.S., it appeared as a top search trend in 31 different states, and it was a dominating top search trend in 9 states in 2022.
  • John McAfee is the most trending crypto influencer of 2022 in the U.S. 296 times it was the #1 crypto-related search term across the U.S., and it appeared as a top search trend in 43 different states.
  • Traditional crypto exchanges still dominate the U.S. trends. 7 out of 10 top trending exchanges are CEXs.

How we did it

Please, use the arrows to navigate:


Top Crypto Trends in the U.S.

Top Trending Cryptocurrencies of 2022

Buying a cryptocurrency is the most common way of participating in the crypto industry. The motivation is clear: 63% of investors buy crypto to make money. Below you will find the cryptocurrencies that Americans were the most curious about.


  • Dash was the most trending cryptocurrency of 2022 in the U.S. according to Google Trends data.
  • Interestingly, being the only cryptocurrencies that showed growth in 2022, BNB and GMX rank only in the #10 and #20 spots respectively.

Top Trending Crypto Influencers Of 2022

Influencers affect both decisions of household investors and B2B markets, their impact is already acknowledged by governments. We compared search interests related to the 25 most popular CEOs, YouTubers, and TikTokers. Below you will find the list of the most trending crypto influencers in the U.S. in 2022. The size of an image represents the combined trend score of each influencer.


  • John McAfee is the most trending crypto influencer of 2022 in the U.S. according to Google Trends data.
  • Do Kwon, Alex Mashinsky, Su Zhu, and Sam Bankman-Fried who captured lots of attention due to the collapse of their companies ranked only 8, 9, 10, and 19 spots respectively.

Top Trending Crypto Exchanges Of 2022

What crypto exchanges were the most trending? DEXs continued earning market share but did they surpass the CEXs in terms of search interest?


  • Gemini is the top trending crypto exchange of 2022 in the U.S. according to Google Trends data.
  • Traditional crypto exchanges still dominate the U.S. trends. 7 out of 10 top trending exchanges are CEXs.

Most Trending Crypto Buzzwords Of 2022

The use of certain terms and acronyms may help to popularize certain technologies or sentiments, leading to their wider adoption and integration into the industry. It is curious to see the most trending crypto slang of 2022 as a response to major crypto events this year.


  • FOMO was the most trending search term in 2022 by being a top search trend 542 times. It appeared in 16 states in total and dominated 3 states in 2022 in the U.S.

Most Impactful Crypto Collapse of 2022

It was previously reported that Celsius+3AC Collapse had the biggest impact on realized losses. But which collapse impacted the crypto search trends the most? We calculated how the average search interest during the collapse differed from the average interest during the previous 30 days.


It is clearly seen that the FTX collapse is the most impactful crypto collapse of the year. It increased the search interest of the whole crypto industry by 3.6 points which is equal to the cumulative effect of Luna's, Celsius', and 3AC's collapses.

Most Trending NFTs Of 2022


  • The Forest is the most trending NFT project of 2022 in the U.S. according to Google Trends data.

Most Trending P2E/M2E Projects Of 2022


  • Step App was the most trending search term in 2022 by being a top search trend 843 times. It appeared in 19 states in total and dominated 3 states in 2022 in the U.S.

Winners vs. Losers: Which Crypto Trends Changed The Most?

We analyzed the change of search interest for crypto-related search terms in four categories: slang, X2E, NFT, and cryptocurrencies. Let's take a look at how the attention of the crypto industry has shifted in 2022.

Crypto Slang Search Trends: 2022 vs 2021


  • DYOR has the biggest growth: It has grown 222% in 2022 compared with 2021. This shows how crypto winter makes individuals do more research instead of simply spotting the whales.

X2E Search Trends: 2022 vs 2021


  • Victoria VR is the fastest-growing X2E search term: It has grown 271% in 2022 compared with 2021.

NFT Search Trends: 2022 vs 2021


Cryptocurrency Search Trends: 2022 vs 2021


  • Shiba Inu has the biggest growth: It has grown 267% in 2022 compared with 2021.

Top Crypto Trend in Each State

We created a hyperlapse video where each frame represents one day of top crypto search terms by state. You can watch the year of crypto search in two minutes:

It is fascinating to see how crashes get replaced with memes and play-to-earn games. But let's dive deeper into this data and see which terms dominated each state in 2022.

What Cryptocurrency Was The Biggest Trend in Each State?

We calculated the number of times each search term was the daily top trend in each state. Then we picked the terms that were on top for the longest period. Below you can see what cryptocurrency dominated each state in 2022.

2022's Top Trending Cryptocurrency By State

What Non-Currency Crypto Term Was The Biggest Trend In Each State?

Keeping in mind the fact that cryptocurrencies have the lion's share of search interest, let's eliminate them to see what non-currency crypto terms dominated each state.

2022's Top Trending Non-Currency Crypto Term By State

The Biggest Crypto Trendsetters

Speed is everything in crypto as billions can be liquidated overnight. This makes us wonder which states have the fastest reaction in terms of Google search which set the trends that spread across the country. We calculated how many new search trends appeared first in every state. By "new search trends" we mean the crypto search terms that grew at least +50% in 2022 vs 2021.


  • New York is a crypto trendsetter of 2022 in the U.S. 26 different crypto trends appeared first in NY and then spread to other states.

Most Independent Crypto Searchers

While some states share the common nation-level search interest, others keep searching for completely different crypto terms. If the state is "detached", unique factors could be at play in that area: demographics, the influence of media, and economic and cultural factors. We compared every day's top state-level search trend with the most common search trend in the U.S. Every time the state-level trend was different, the state received one point. The most "independent" states in terms of crypto search can be found below:


  • Nevada had the most independent crypto interests in 2022. 95% of the time its top search trend did not match the common search trend in the U.S.

What State Was a Trendsetter for TWT (that grew 300% in 2022)?

  • North Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas, and Alabama were the first four states where TWT became a top search trend in 2022, this happened on the first day of the year.

What State Was a Trendsetter for GMX (that grew 200% in 2022)?

  • Nebraska was the first state where GMX became a top search trend in 2022.

The Most Bitcoin-Obsessed State

  • Nevada is the only state where Bitcoin dominated Google Trends. The search term "Bitcoin" had the highest interest in Nevada five days in a row starting June 11 when BTC lost almost 35% in a single week.

The Most Ethereum-Obsessed State

  • New York is the most Ethereum-obsessed state. The search phrase "Ethereum" was a top 1 search trend in NY for 15 days in 2022.

The Most NFT-Obsessed State

  • North Carolina is the most NFT-obsessed state. NFT-related searches were the top trend in NC during the 78 days of 2022: 77 days - The Forest NFT and 1 day - Mutant Ape Yacht Club.

The Most P2E/M2E-Obsessed State

  • West Virginia is the most P2E/M2E-obsessed state. The Step App was the top search trend for 189 days in WV in 2022.

What State Was Interested In Crypto Tax The Most?

  • District of Columbia was interested in crypto tax the most in 2022. Crypto tax was the #1 trending search term in D.C. for 36 days in 2022.

Methodology

528 trending search terms were taken from Google News, CoinMarketCap, ChainPlay, MeetGlimpse, and ExplodingTopics. Weekly data for the U.S. search terms was retrieved from the Google Trends website. Relative state-level interest was taken from Google Trends. Two datasets were used to calculate the weekly data for every state. Cubic spline interpolation was used to get the daily data for each search term for each state. For each combination of the date and the state, the search term with the biggest interest was selected. The Google Trends data was taken for the period from 1 January 2022 to 26 November 2022.

Sources:

  1. Google Trends
  2. Google News
  3. CoinMarketCap.com
  4. ChainPlay.gg
  5. MeetGlimpse.com/crypto-trends/
  6. MeetGlimpse.com/nft-trends/
  7. ExplodingTopics.com/crypto-topics

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How we reviewed this article

Edited By
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All CoinLedger articles go through a rigorous review process before publication. Learn more about the CoinLedger Editorial Process.

David Kemmerer
Written by:
David Kemmerer
Co-Founder & CEO

David Kemmerer is the Co-Founder and CEO of CoinLedger. David has been deeply involved with the cryptocurrency industry since 2017.

About the Author

CoinLedger has strict sourcing guidelines for our content. Our content is based on direct interviews with tax experts, guidance from tax agencies, and articles from reputable news outlets.

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