Bitcoin remains fast-trending topic on Chinese social media as cryptocurrency’s surging price overcomes stigma of government ban

The surging price of bitcoin has sparked increased attention from internet users in mainland China, where some cryptocurrency-related activities persist in spite of a sweeping government ban.

The world’s largest and most valuable cryptocurrency, bitcoin gained more than 16 per cent over the past five days to surpass US$59,000 on Wednesday, which made it a fast-trending topic on all major Chinese social media platforms.

At one point on Wednesday, bitcoin ranked as the 11th most-searched term on microblogging service Weibo.

Bitcoin’s popularity also increased more than 358 per cent from a day ago on Chinese super app WeChat, according to Tencent Holdings’ official WeChat Index, which tracks keyword traction across in-app search, videos, live streams and blog posts.

That followed a 676 per cent jump in bitcoin’s popularity on WeChat on February 13, the same day bitcoin reached the US$50,000 mark for the first time in more than two years.