California is likely the US state most interested in bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), according to new data from CoinGecko.
In a report shared by CoinGecko, California internet users accounted for 43% of all bitcoin and ether related searches on the cryptocurrency tracking site. And this, although the population of this state represents only 11.9% of the population of the United States.
Bobby Ong, CoinGecko’s chief operating officer and co-founder, said he was “not surprised” that California took the top spot in terms of cryptocurrency interest, given its position as a “major tech hub”.
California is also home to Silicon Valley, one of the biggest technology and innovation hubs in the world.
Some of the largest Silicon Valley-based companies that have invested in blockchain-based applications and cryptocurrency startups include Apple, Google, Meta, PayPal, and Wells Fargo.
Centralized exchange Coinbase was one of the first major cryptocurrency companies to be headquartered in California, although today it does not have a headquarters. Graph, Helium, MakerDAO and dYdX are some of the latest Web3 projects present in the Golden State.
Many prestigious universities with excellent engineering and technology departments are also located in California, such as Stanford University, the California Institute of Technology, and the University of California, Berkeley.
CoinGecko also noted that the other states with strong interest in both cryptocurrencies are Illinois, New York, Florida, and Washington, followed by Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Georgia and Arizona.
In the top 20 states, most of the searches on the website seem to be focused on bitcoin. However, the data showed that four specific states saw more searches for ether than its competitor.
“The interest of Colorado, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Florida in ether over bitcoin is particularly noteworthy,” says Ong.
“It remains to be seen how these rankings and market shares will evolve in the coming months, as the Merger approaches.”
The data was collected between May 2 and August 21, 2022, and only web traffic data from the United States was collected. The data was indexed on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the highest point of web traffic (California) compared to other states.
Also read: 70% of Americans with cryptocurrencies started investing in 2021: Report
These results come as a recent survey by Study.com found that more than 64% of American parents and college graduates with an adequate understanding of blockchain technology want to teach crypto in classrooms.
Globally, the United States shared first place with Germany in cryptocurrency-friendly regulations and legislation, and ahead of Singapore, Australia and Switzerland, according to crypto data aggregator Coincub.
