Social media searches for Bitcoin booming as China Merchant Bank invests in popular BTC wallet

Search volumes for “Bitcoin” on China’s social media platforms have spiked sharply following the Chinese government’s announcement of an openly bullish stance on blockchain and its various applications, including digital finance.

China’s President Xi Jinping delivered a speech last week declaring his state’s intention to “seize the opportunity” of blockchain and “strive to let China take the leading position” in its development and application. Expectedly, the crypto community was sent into a furor—many taking the news as a signal that the autocratic state had begun to dissolve its yearslong clampdown on cryptocurrency and legitimize the asset class in a market of 1.3+ billion citizens.

Is China about to ease up on crypto?

In the days following a number of stories surfaced indicating that indeed, China may be about to begin a state-led effort to embrace cryptocurrency. On Monday, Reuters reported that a Chinese central bank official said that commercial banks “should step up their application of blockchain technology to embrace digital finance.”

If the sources of Dovey Wan are accurate (Wan is a venture capitalist and crypto researcher known for her knowledge of the Chinese market), this could already be happening. Hours after the release of the Reuters report, Wan stated that China Merchant Bank had invested in China’s top non-custodial Bitcoin wallet, BitPie.