I wondered if there was any correlation between the hard-fork news and the recent price gains in BTC. 

I typed "segwit2x" into Google Trends, and this is what it showed me:

Then I typed in "bitcoin" and thought the website glitched or something. You'll see. 

For now let's look at "segwit2x" vs "altcoin" :

Interesting yeah? Interest grew for both terms. Segwit2x grew faster.

Now let's throw in the word "blockchain" :

Interest in blockchain, the technology underpinning all of this, dwarfs more niche terms like altcoin and segwit2x. 

Now let's add "bitcoin" to the mix:

What can be read from this procession of charts? 

There's more interest in bitcoin than anything else. 

Among people interested in bitcoin, few are learning more about blockchain, altcoins, and the most recent fork attempt.  

Bitcoin was the first implementation of the technology. It proved itself useful. It solved enough problems to become ascendant. Many possibilities and capabilities remain to be developed. 

But other blockchains will emerge, as they already have. 

Interest in "steem" looks similar to segwit2x, albeit flatter but turning up. Check it out for yourself. 

Buy now?