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2022 saw crypto second-in-command the Ethereum network surpass Bitcoin in terms of transactions. Indeed, Ethereum reeled in four times the number of transactions BTC processed in the past 12 months. Interestingly, despite this, BTC was able to retain its status as the best-known cryptocurrency, netting more searches than Ethereum did. 

BTC Attracts the Most Online Interest in 2022

An analyst shared data on Reddit from the financial services corporation Nasdaq alongside investment research platform Ycharts pertaining to both crypto assets. Per the report, Ethereum blew past Bitcoin with a 338% gap in transaction volume. Ethereum netted a total of 408.5 million transactions while BTC transactions for the year amounted to only 93.1 million. 

Regardless, Bitcoin remained the most popular cryptocurrency in terms of online search interest. According to a newsletter from “In Bitcoin We Trust,” BTC attracted the most attention on Google search with 28.4 million monthly searches worldwide. Memecoins Shiba Inu and Dogecoin taking the second and third spots, respectively.

Meanwhile, Ethereum came in fourth place with 3.8 million global monthly searches.

Ethereum Volumes are Significantly Volatile

The crypto king averaged 255,000 transactions daily while its rival saw about 1.1 million transactions. While it is undeniable that Ethereum came out on top in the aspect of quantity, the platform experienced a lot of volatility. However, the Bitcoin network saw more stability in the level of its transaction volumes throughout the year.

Ethereum’s variable volumes can credit their occurrence to a surge in demand at certain times. These include the launch of non-fungible tokens and gas-intensive events such as XEN minting. As the report noted, the Ethereum network boasts a wide range of applications which increases the platform’s prospects for adoption. 

Notably, Ethereum has maintained its significant transaction volumes following the transition to 2023. Indeed, Bitinfocharts report that the network’s transaction count has hit an impressive 924,614 as of January 2nd. This exceeds Bitcoin’s count from the same day which sits at 229,191 but 300%.

Is Flippening a Possibility?

It is worthy of note that the data does not account for layer 2 transactions. According to data from L2beat, the number of transactions on Ethereum’s second-layer networks surpassed those on the first layer in mid-October. This trend has continued since then.

Considering the distance between the transaction volumes, some believe the networks are indeed heading toward a flippening. A flippening describes the hypothetical moment where Ethereum overtakes Bitcoin in terms of market cap and becomes the leading cryptocurrency. The analyst behind the Reddit report acknowledged this saying flippening advocates may have some ground for their opinion. 

I was skeptical about people saying that a flippening could happen someday, but now I see that people advocating for it do have some basis to say so.”

At writing, both ETH and BTC had traded sideways in the past 24 hours, as BTC looks to break the $17k psychological barrier since early December.

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