The heavy selling pressure that has dominated the cryptocurrency markets in recent weeks has coincided with a surge in peer-to-peer (P2P) trade volume across the Localbitcoins markets in Asia and South America. Globally, higher trade activity over the past two weeks has also driven the strongest volume since September 2017, with roughly 12,116 BTC changing hands in the last seven days.
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Venezuela
It appears that the popularity of BTC among Venezuelan citizens continues to grow exponentially, despite the introduction of the national cryptocurrency, the petro.
Weekly Venezuelan Localbitcoins Trade Measured in Fiat
This past week, the week of Dec. 1, the Venezuelan Localbitcoins market posted record weekly trade volume for the seventh time in nine weeks when measured in fiat currency, and the sixth time in the last nine weeks when measured in BTC.
Weekly Venezuelan Localbitcoins Trade Measured in BTC
Approximately 1,296 BTC has been traded over the past week, equating to 2.38 billion Venezuelan bolivars ($238.3 million) worth of BTC changing hands.
Colombia and Peru
The trade action of recent weeks has also seen P2P volume surge across other Latin American markets. Colombia and Peru, for example, have posted record BTC volume for two consecutive weeks.
Weekly Colombian Localbitcoins Trade Measured in BTC
Roughly 596 BTC changed hands in exchange for Colombian pesos (COP) last week, while 186 BTC was traded for Peruvian sol (PEN).
Weekly Peruvian Localbitcoins Trade Measured in BTC
When measured in fiat currency, Colombian hit record volume during the week of Nov. 3, with 8.1 billion COP ($2.55 million) worth of BTC changing hands.
Weekly Colombian Localbitcoins Trade Measured in Fiat
Peru posted record fiat volume for the week of Oct. 20, with nearly 3.15 million PEN ($931,730) worth of BTC being traded.
Weekly Peruvian Localbitcoins Trade Measured in Fiat
Argentina and Chile
The Argentinian and Chilean P2P markets also posted record volume for the week of Nov. 10 when measuring in fiat, with 8.25 million Argentine pesos ($220,730) and 243.5 million Chilean pesos ($363,000) worth of BTC changing hands throughout the seven-day period.
Weekly Argentinian Localbitcoins Trade Measured in Fiat
Weekly Chilean Localbitcoins Trade Measured in Fiat
South Korea
A number of Asian P2P markets have also shown significant strength in recent weeks, with several markets posting the strongest trade seen in over 12 months, when measured in BTC. This past week, the South Korean P2P markets posted the sixth strongest volume on record with 74.3 million Korean won ($66,715) worth of BTC exchanging hands.
Weekly South Korean Localbitcoins Trade Measured in Fiat
The week of Dec. 1 was also the strongest South Korean trade recorded since July 2017 when measured in BTC, with 16 BTC changing hands.
Weekly South Korean Localbitcoins Trade Measured in BTC
Indonesia
During the week of Nov. 24, Indonesia posted its second largest volume for Localbitcoins trade when measured in fiat currency, with over 1 billion Indonesian rupiah ($69,475) worth of BTC changing hands.
Weekly Indonesian Localbitcoins Trade Measured in Fiat
The week was also the strongest Indonesian P2P trade to be posted since March 2017 when measured in BTC, with 16 BTC changing hands.
Weekly Indonesian Localbitcoins Trade Measured in BTC
India
The week of Nov. 24 also saw significant trade activity on India’s Localbitcoins market. It was the fourth strongest on record when measured in fiat, with roughly 122 million Indian rupees ($1.73 million) worth of trade.
Weekly Indian Localbitcoins Trade Measured in Fiat
The week was also the strongest since May 2017 when measured in BTC, with 296 BTC changing hands.
Weekly Indian Localbitcoins Trade Measured in BTC
Thailand
The week of Nov. 24 also saw the strongest trade between BTC and the Thai baht since September 2017 when measured in BTC, with 153 BTC changing hands.
Weekly Thai Localbitcoins Trade Measured in BTC
Kazakhstan
Trade in Kazakhstan surged during the week of Nov. 10, comprising the third strongest on record when measuring in fiat and the fourth strongest in BTC.
Weekly Kazakhstani Localbitcoins Trade Measured in Fiat
Roughly 36.7 million Kazakhstani tenge ($99,085) worth of BTC changed hands, equating to about 16 BTC worth of trade.
Weekly Kazakhstani Localbitcoins Trade Measured in BTC
Do you think that P2P trade throughout Latin American and Asia will continue to set new records for volume in the coming weeks? Share your prediction in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Coin.dance
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The crypto-world has gained popularity in recent years. The new investment opportunities also feature many scammers trying to fleece innocent investors off their money. One sector of the new crypto world that has achieved extensive growth is the initial coins offering (ICO) arena. In the past two years, there were ICO fraud cases.
2018 is a noteworthy year for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s attempts to enforce regulations against cryptocurrency companies. According to one director, alliance with other international regulatory agencies played a fundamental role in enhancing the SEC’s regulatory actions recently.
A co-director of the Division of Enforcement at the Commission, Steven Peikin, acknowledged international cooperation as a vital in fighting unregistered and fraudulent individuals. Peikin made on December 3, 2018, at the Harvard Law School’s Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS). He was speaking to the Regulators of Securities Markets.
Peikin is the leader of a team of attorneys and accountants who actively investigate and prosecute all types of civil violations of the U.S. federal securities laws.
ICOs Have Exploded Since 2016
He started by stating that the ICO market has spiked from a mere concept to a phenomenon investment channel. In 2016, ICOs acquired $100 million while in 2018 the figure shot up to at least $22 billion. That represents a 22,000% increase.
According to Peikin, the blockchain popularity and the novelty of ICO as a fundraising method has attracted many investors. Most of these investors do not know the risks involved in the new asset classes. It is notable that many ICOs do not have any viable products, established records of the issuers, business models, and dependable capacity to keep hackers away.
The Frauds
Peikin believes that some of them are . He also added:
“The growth in the ICO market can obscure the fact that these offerings are often high-risk investments.”
The co-director highlighted on the Dominic Lacroix ICO scam. That scam swindled many US investors around $13 million by issuing a 13-fold fake profit promise in less than a month.
Lacroix, a Canadian, was proven to have had financial scams’ history reported in Quebec, Canada, according to the . Regulators face challenges since the money acquired in ICOs often comes from investors across the world.
In May 2018, Canadian and U.S. regulators launched at least 70 investigations into falsified ICOs and cryptocurrency scams. They called the widespread crackdown ‘Operation Crypto Sweep’. Also, the North American Securities Administrators Association sent warning letters to sham crypto companies’ operators. Most operators work from over 40 jurisdictions in U.S. and Canada.
The crackdown was launched shortly after regulators discovered many ICO fraud cases among several crypto investment promoters. Securities attorneys also sent stern warnings to celebrities who endorse ICOs informing them that they can get sued for abetting fraud if the ICO products are a sham.
Peikin concluded by saying that the Agency would continue cooperating with global partners to catch and prosecute any ICO fraudsters. Other world leaders speaking at the recent G20 Summit in Buenos Aires share his sentiments.
