Staff Writer
Although when cryptocurrency was first introduced it was a foreign concept to many, it’s fast rise to notoriety has unsurprisingly caught the attention of many celebrities. Whether endorsing, investing in or founding cryptocurrencies, the Celebrity Crypto Fans study - compiled by bitcoin casino specialists A2ZCasinos.org, measures the global popularity of both celebrity-founded and endorsed cryptocurrencies, to reveal the extent to which celebrities impact the growth of virtual currency.
The study found that for the most part, celebrity involvement in virtual currencies does lead to substantially higher searches than before, while celebrity-founded cryptocurrencies seem to see a more rapid growth in popularity than previously established currencies like Bitcoin. By analysing Google Trends data, the study revealed that Akon’s Akoin - introduced in June 2019 - has seen a respectable 98.4% increase in interest during its first year of being announced, based on global search volume. This makes it the fastest-growing celebrity-founded currency on the market so far.
Although other currencies are set to hit the market from the likes of Jason Derulo, no celebrity-founded currency has seen a bigger rise in interest than Akoin, as Manny Pacquiao’s PAC Token saw a far smaller 9.55% increase over its first year. Interestingly, Akoin has also seen a bigger rise in interest than Bitcoin and Ripple (XRP) combined, which saw a 6.4% drop and 8.17% rise in searches respectively. However, it’s Ethereum that’s proved the fastest-growing with a massive 470% increase over its first year.
When it comes to celebrity-endorsed cryptocurrencies, it’s Ashton Kutcher who seems to have the most influence, as BitPay saw a staggering 131.4% increase in searches in the two months after Kutcher’s investment was announced. And it’s not just searches that saw a positive impact due to Kutcher’s endorsement - BitPay also saw a 355.4% increase in value across two months, according to market data.
Ultimately, it’s evident that celebrities have a significant influence on the success and reception of cryptocurrencies - it remains to be seen which other figures invest in established wallets or found their own to take advantage of their impact.
