The Social Impact on Bitcoin and the Crypto Currency Market

CAN SOCIAL MEDIA AND POP CULTURE AFFECT THE PRICE OF BITCOIN?

Take a look at this picture or, or as our social media savvy friends say, meme. Don't just look at it like another funny reference to tie crypto to the general public (It definitely is also that but just, ya know give it a shot). Let's look at it as say, marketing.

Since the start of Bitcoin, there has seemed to be a very straightforward story line of mistrust and the unknown, which as we know can be pretty bad for popularity. Let me give you something to think about. Take the great game of trying to find a girl. You tend to take in account a lot of opinions of others and judge women. That said, are you gonna go after the girl who is known for getting around or are you gonna go for the perfect girl all your boys can't say enough about? Easy choice right? Who doesn't want that perfect girl or, in our case, that sure fire money maker. As we know things aren't always that black and white. Maybe the girl that gets around is actually misunderstood, ruined by rumors from untrustworthy people, yet you didn't take the time to get to know her because of some hearsay. Now think about Bitcoin in the SAME WAY.

Bitcoin is that girl, the investment that JP Morgan CEO claimed was a "scam" and was "sure to tank" causing many to bolt or stay away from the market. Now think, if you listened to that rumor then you've been mislead. CEO Jamie Dimon used his social reach to alter the market to people with little knowledge. Don't worry though because you're here reading this article so that won't happen again. That being said, in a world of growing social media, memes and other pop culture influences are helping to bridge the gap between knowledgable developers and the average Joe sitting at home scouring twitter for laughs.

One might argue that it can bring down the aesthetic of BTC, almost causing it to look like a fad. I challenge you to look at it from this perspective instead. If you're reading this article you most likely have a knowledge of cryptocurrency OR you got here because I also put in an image tying crypto to characters on the popular HBO series Game Of Thrones. Now maybe some came here, scrolled to the picture, read the caption, then payed no attention to the rest of the article and carried on with their day. Around 90% of non crypto viewers will follow this trend, but for the remaining 10% there is still hope.

I can honestly say about two years ago I had no reason to believe in Bitcoin, but mostly because I had no knowledge about it. When my younger brother began to buy and hold bitcoin at around $120 a coin, I had to know why. He would spend such a large portion of his already low weekly income on something someone once spent 10,000 coins to purchase just two pizzas. Honestly, how can something worth fractions of a cent jump exponentially over just a few years. At the time there wasn't a lot of public buzz around the topic even with its huge gains which caused me to back off a bit, no way it could keep this trend right? Wrong. Gains continued and I stayed away in fear I missed the rocket ship. Once I saw his account double, then triple, and then absolutely explode, I couldn't deprive myself any longer.

People began talking about it, how could you not be excited to make so much money! That's when it began to go mainstream, when memes focused around Bitcoin and Ethereum began to really circulate. This is when twitter accounts began to boom with crypto names and users. Now I realize that the blockchain has gotten more reliable and has added many new alts which has pushed a lot of attention and growth but if you look at google trends, there is a direct correlation.

GOOGLE TRENDS CHART

Y-axis represent percentage of maximum search interest: the value 100 is peak popularity for the term. The value 50 means search interest is half as popular than the peak search interest. Thus the score 0 means interest was less than 1% as popular as the peak.

Take a look at this graph here, notice those spikes in interest? When you take a look at those dates where interest really peaks you can tell there is a big influence in the price of Bitcoin. Now that you know the interest chart, take a quick look at this bitcoin price chart courtesy of our friends at Coincap.io

BITCOIN PRICE CHART

Y-axis represents the price of BTC in USD.

Now that you've seen both graphs, you can literally match them up to each other. If you look at those spike periods, Bitcoin seems to move pretty closely with it. I mean think about it, the more exposure the more potential for a larger market! We now get to hear about announcements from Visa about working with Bitcoin payments, Amazon working toward the same goal, and even the prospect of Bitcoin ATMs just around the block in your favorite convenience store. Now I realize that we aren't there yet, but no one thought we'd have +300% from a Grand at just the start of the year and now BTC sits close to $4,000. As we hear more mentions of Bitcoin in shows such as CSI and Law and Order when talking about discreet payments, or when The Late Show hammers Jamie Dimon for his obliviously awful calls, or even when a crypto meme or mention rolls through somebody's twitter feed, there is now an even higher potential of helping the Crypto market grow. So when you think its stupid to spend some time making a funny meme or posting on a forum, think again. Not only do you help to better your knowledge of the crypto world, you are potentially helping to expand the market and increase the value of your holdings. I mean honestly, isn't that what it's all about?

Now more than ever social influence has a huge impact on the crypto currency markets. A tweet, post, reply, or even search can have huge implications on the overall market. This element has created a new wave of investment opportunities and lead to a booming new industry. That said, with the good comes the bad, things like market manipulation, scams, and social schemes have robbed people of their investments and created unprecedented volatility in the markets. Even so, there is major money to be made here, don't let the world of Crypto be your lost love;)

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