Worldwide Google searches for “Bitcoin” (BTC) — currently worth $9,400 — are now near a three-month high, according to Google Trends. Current interest is at the highest level since early August, when BTC price was around $11,700.

Africa leads in searches for “Bitcoin”

Notably, three of the top five regions reporting the most searches for the keyword in question are located in Africa. The top five regions are Nigeria, South Africa, Austria, Ghana and Brazil.

As reported earlier today, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading platform Paxful said its volumes grew 2,800% over the past year in South Africa.

Bitcoin, not blockchain

Google searches for “blockchain,” on the other hand, have not seen any major leap in interest despite receiving praise from China’s president who urged the country to accelerate blockchain development.

Overall, the chart shows that the number of searches for blockchain has been much more stable than those for Bitcoin, without any sharp increases or decreases, unlike on WeChat trends, where searches for “blockchain” and “bitcoin” soared, as reported yesterday.

Meanwhile, Chinese state media announced today that the country should embrace blockchain technology but warned against “speculating” in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. After state authorities endorsed blockchain technology, stocks in Chinese blockchain A-share firms maxed out to their 10% daily limit.

Searches for Bitcoin (Blue), blockchain (Red) | Source: Google Trends

As Cointelegraph reported, Google search interest in “Bitcoin” hit its lowest levels this year in September as price flatlined.