A study revealed a rising trend in bitcoin (btc) volume trading across Latin America amid the coronavirus pandemic and rising inflation, pushing the figures to record highs and putting Venezuela and Colombia at the top of the ranking.
Latin America Sees a Bullish Trend in Bitcoin P2P Trading Volume
According to Localbitcoins, a peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin marketplace, both Venezuela – remaining as the second-largest bitcoin trader globally with 12.3% – and Colombia (11.3%) accounted for over 23% of the total trading volume on the platform during 2020.
However, Russia is still the leader as it holds the biggest Localbitcoins trading volume portion in the world, with a share of 17.4%.
Although all three countries experience different economic realities, the report pointed out that their populations share a strong interest in bitcoin – something witnessed already in crypto adoption figures by related studies.
In Venezuela’s case, the country has been facing hyperinflation, leading to a depreciation in fiat currency value and, in consequence, a boost of interest for cryptocurrency among citizens. Localbitcoins claims that such factors influence Colombia’s trading volume, which in turned has helped to boost bitcoin interest in the country even further.
Other Latin American Countries Seeing a Boost in Bitcoin Trading Volume
The report also mentions Argentina, Chile, and Brazil, where the volume of bitcoin exchange through the P2P marketplace has been on the rise due to uncertainty surrounding their economies, mainly due to the ongoing lockdowns.
Colombia is witnessing a surge in the number of installed bitcoin ATMs. According to recent statistics unveiled by Coin ATM Radar, the country has 60 ATMs, placing it at the top as the nation with the largest number of bitcoin ATMs in Latin America as of press time.
Venezuela has been making headlines recently in the crypto community after Cryptobuyer announced on November 28 that all Pizza Hut restaurants in the nation now accept cryptocurrencies.
However, the overall economic situation in Venezuela is still rather grim, as according to the latest data compiled by Statista, the country ranked first in the global inflation ranking of 2019 with more than 19,000% yearly inflation.
What are your thoughts on the figures presented in the study? Let us know in the comments section below.
Also, be sure to check local.Bitcoin.com, a private peer-to-peer platform where you can find others who are interested in trading BCH for local currencies via a blind escrow smart contract.
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