Bitcoin Forum

Here are some Google Trends links....


The first one shows a drastic increase in searches for Bitcoin from Greek citizens. The spike coincides directly with their recent crisis.

http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=bitcoin&geo=GR&date=today%2012-m&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT%2B4


Chart two shows that interest from Greek citizens is near an all-time high. Almost as high as during the last bubble which is drastically different than the worldwide trend (Chart 3).

Greece --- http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=bitcoin&geo=GR&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT%2B4
Worldwide --- http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=bitcoin&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT%2B4


If anyone is wondering, I think Google Trends is a lagging indicator rather than a predictive indicator.

With that said, the above trends tell me that (1)there was panic in Greece and (2)the citizens decided to give Bitcoin a closer look. Who knows how many actually made moves on their searches, but any increase in interest in the Bitcoin community from outsiders is welcomed in my book.

In my opinion, these data also might mean that Bitcoin really has a legitimate shot at becoming a player in the "safe haven" arena alongside gold or the USD. I know that most people on here very much dislike fiat currency, but the fact is that the dollar is the most powerful currency in the world. If bitcoin can gain even the tiniest sliver of market share from the dollar and/or gold then being long is the place to be.

But did they buy any bitcoins?  If I was in Greece, I would take my money from the bank and turn the extra money into btc.  I wonder how many actually did this?  Were you able to find numbers on this?

I think they have a limit on their withdrawals on a daily basis. Like 70euros I think? I've seen it on a news somewhere as I search for Greece blogs to see their financial status.

Not 100% sure. This article (http://www.fastcompany.com/3048103/greek-turmoil-sparks-renewed-attention-to-bitcoin-but-keeps-greeks-from-buying) states that there was a big surge in Europeans buying, but not a lot of Greeks. Greeks didn't have access to money though so really they couldn't buy or link their bank accounts to Coinbase for example bc it just wasn't possible.

Maybe we will hear news soon on if Greeks actually start buying coins now that they have access to their funds. I think checking the trends linked in my initial post will tell us something based on if the Greek regional searches stay high rather than coming back down where they were previously.

Yeah, although searches and general interest for Bitcoin seems to have grown exponentially during the crisis, actual purchases did not. Simply put, those who were fortunate enough to maintain access of their money does not need Bitcoin, and those without access has no means of purchasing.

There is a big step from browsing it to actually owning some, but think about it, how much did it took for you from the first time you google bitcoin to the first time you actually bought some and used it? it takes time. Browsing bitcoin and researching is the seed that gets things started.

I heard about it during the Cyprus fiasco. ... took me a month to commit.

Is the charts showing a continued increase in greek BTC interest? Or has it died down after the continuations of the loan negotiations? 

it's already good to see that they at least show interest in bitcoin. the money limits make it very difficult for them to purschase anything other than things they really need every day.

Good stuff but they were/are in desperate times & judging by the overall price movements it suggests that not many Greeks did invest into bitcoin, certainly not enough to majorly move the price.

I saw a post on here a few weeks ago detailing that if even 100,000 Greeks invested a mediocre amount of fiat into bitcoin the price would fly past 500 USD. So it doesn't look like a substantial amount of Greeks did invest.

Maybe lots googled/researched bitcoin after hearing about it in the news but they didn't have the balls or desire to invest.