Interest for blockchain skyrockets on WeChat and Baidu in China

Search volumes for the word "Blockchain" skyrocketed in China after President Xi Jinping said that his administration would embrace blockchain technology.

On Friday, Oct. 25, during the 18th collective study of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of blockchain technology and its role in new technological innovation and industrial transformation.

"We must take the blockchain as an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies, clarify the main direction, increase investment, focus on a number of key core technologies, and accelerate the development of blockchain technology and industrial innovation," said Jinping.

As the Chinese government vowed to put the nation at the forefront of the blockchain industry, the search volumes for blockchain-related keywords experienced a significant spike.

The same pattern repeated over the weekend on both Baidu and WeChat as searches for "Blockchain" continued to increase.

The weight that Xi Jinping put on "Blockchain" and not on "Bitcoin" during his speech was also seen in the search volumes for the word "Bitcoin." As a matter of fact, this keyword was searched around 50,000 times in Baidu and 1.3 million times in WeChat on Oct. 25.

The sudden spike in searches for "Blockchain" appears to have had a direct impact on the cryptocurrency market.

According to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, the strong support for blockchain development by China could be the catalyst for the next upswing.

Bitcoin companies in China suddenly all became blockchain companies.

In 2017, as well as $BTC ATH again at $20,000 in Dec. Today, President Xi Jinping stated strong support for blockchain development by China.