Interest in cryptocurrency has not diminished whatsoever. Over in India there has always been a vibrant Bitcoin ecosystem. It now seems the focus is slowly shifting to Ethereum for some reason. It has been the most searched cryptocurrency in the country over the past five months.
The Rise of Ethereum in India
There is a lot more to the cryptocurrency industry than just Bitcoin. Various altcoins are making their impact on the industry as well. Ethereum is perhaps the biggest “contender” in this regard. Statistics in India seem to indicate the general public is more interested in this particular currency. This trend has materialized over the past five months and is not slowing down just yet.
More specifically, searches for Ethereum in India represent 34.4% of all searches. Bitcoin, on the other hand, comes in second place with 29.9%. It may not seem like a big difference, yet it does set the overall tone in the country. In the rest of the world, people seemingly have high hopes for Ethereum as well.
Other than BuyUCoin – the name for NEM in India – the rest of the currencies are not too popular. Dash is leading the pack with 5.3% of all searches. It goes to show this report by internet provider Jana is rather intriguing to keep an eye on. Whether or not this information will have any impact on the prices of these currencies, is a different matter altogether.
Determining the Future of Cryptocurrency
With cryptocurrency regulation still being worked on India, the future remains a bit uncertain for the industry. Depending on how the government tackles this form of money, there may be more competition or less innovation overall. There is no official deadline as to when new regulations can be expected.
With the interest in Ethereum surging, exchanges listing this altcoin may see a lot of new users. That is, assuming this interest in the currency holds up for quite some time to come. The latest five-month popularity increase is pretty interesting, but it only tells part of the story. Even so, some big changes may be on the horizon for Ethereum overall.
Bitmain’s recent Ethereum mining ASIC may help shake things up. With this hardware, Ethereum’s mining aspect will come under even more scrutiny. The developers have hinted at switching to proof-of-stake for some time now. It is possible this deadline may be moved ahead, assuming that is even feasible to do.