Most cryptocurrency users will agree that the year 2017 was rather exceptional. We saw all markets grow in spectacular fashion, and the general public’s interest in Bitcoin and altcoins increased by leaps and bounds. As a result, it is not entirely surprising to see cryptocurrency being recognized as a trend on Shutterstock. Searches for “cryptocurrency” on the platform are up by 1,264% year-over-year.

Cryptocurrency Makes a Big Impact

During the final six months of 2017, everyone seemed to have an opinion on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and we saw hundreds of media headlines regarding the topic. Not all of the news has been overly positive, but that is only to be expected. There are still a fair amount of misconceptions regarding cryptocurrency in the world today. Moreover, the general understanding of how this new form of money works also needs to be improved upon.

Even so, there has never been more interest in what cryptocurrency does and why it matters to people on the street. Even platforms such as Shutterstock which specialize in images, video, and vectors have seen an uptick in terms of cryptocurrency-related searches. According to Shutterstock’s blog, there were 1,264% more cryptocurrency-related searches on the platform last year than there had been in 2016. It is unclear if these numbers will continue to increase, but no one would be surprised if that is the case.

For content creators and graphic artists, this news is rather excellent. Anyone who can prepare high-quality stock images or vectors related to cryptocurrency should submit them to Shutterstock as soon as possible. For the term “Bitcoin”, for example, the number of available images increased by quite a bit last year. Whereas there used to be 40 pages worth of results, that number has since grown to around 100. Bitcoin is just one small aspect of cryptocurrency these days, though. Various other currencies, as well as initial coin offerings, are very popular search terms as well.

Both newcomers and media outlets are keeping a close eye on how things proceed in the cryptocurrency world. After the spectacular year we had in 2017, the expectations for 2018 are perhaps even higher. So far, things are not off to a good start whatsoever, as all markets have lost a lot of value in the past week. This “dip” occurs every single year in the month of January, though, and the veterans know there is virtually nothing to worry about at this stage. Rest assured more outlets will cover cryptocurrency during these times, which will make that particular keyword on Shutterstock even more popular.

It is good to see mainstream platforms such as Shutterstock acknowledge that cryptocurrency is trending, as they stand to benefit from offering stock images to people looking for related content. Finding creative commons images related to cryptocurrency has proven somewhat difficult. There are some options available, but the catalog pales in comparison to what specialized stock photo websites have to offer. It would not be surprising to see this gap widen even further in the coming months.

Whether or not cryptocurrency will have another stellar year in 2018 remains subject to considerable debate. There are those who feel this is the year when we will see a total crypto market cap of US$1 trillion and higher. Right now, that seems highly unlikely, as the markets are struggling to stay above US$500 billion. Then again, a lot of things can happen in the next eleven months. No one can predict the future, yet the interest in cryptocurrency will only continue to grow on a global scale.