bitcoin () trading volumes in have reached a new all-time high amidst massive hyperinflation and an ongoing presidential crisis, tech news outlet reports Feb. 6.
bitcoin weekly trading volumes reached above 2,000 BTC (about $6.8 million) on peer-to-peer () exchange during the week ending Feb. 2.
Venezuela LocalBitcoins Weekly Trade Volumes in BTC. Source:
The recorded trade volumes on LocalBitcoins are just a fraction of overall estimated ₿itcoin trading by Venezuelans. As TrustNodes reports, a large amount of trading is taking place on centralized exchanges located in neighboring countries, such as and .
In such cases, the total value of ₿itcoin trading volumes by Venezuelans is difficult to estimate since trades are often made in local currencies of the neighboring countries.
Trading volumes on LocalBitcoins have also seen a spike in Colombia, with the two countries together accounting for 85 percent of trading volumes on the p2p exchange in Latin America, as reported Feb. 5. During the first five weeks of 2019, Venezuela has reportedly seen 8571 transactions, while Colombia saw 1709 transactions.
According to TrustNodes, the trading volume on LocalBitcoins in Venezuela has seen an over four-fold increase since summer 2018, while the inflation of the local fiat currency, the Venezuelan bolivar, has reached one million percent.
As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier in 2018, the inflation rate in Venezuela could potentially reach ten million percent this year.
Despite having the largest oil reserves in the world, Venezuela’s economy has fallen by 47 percent since the end of 2013. The economic situation in the country was worsened by the by the adopted in 2017, which targeted the regime of Venezuelan president . Last month, the U.S. additional sanctions against the country’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA.
The tension in the country has been increased by an ongoing presidential crisis since last month, when the country’s majority opposition National Assembly Maduro’s May 2018 re-election invalid. As Cointelegraph earlier this month, Juan Guaido is currently the self-proclaimed president of the country, and is supported by many local and international leaders.
On Jan. 31, Venezuela officially a new bill on crypto regulation that introduces the concept of a sovereign crypto asset, which represents any currency issued in Venezuela and authorized by the government. The bill also lists required licenses for mining and crypto exchanges businesses, and introduces fines for unlicensed activities.
Published at Thu, 07 Feb 2019 15:47:00 +0000
