The largest volumes of bitcoin trades via the LocalBitcoins p2p trading platform this year were carried out by users from Russia (17.4%), Venezuela (12.3%), and Colombia (11.3%). The data are provided in the company’s blog.
Latin American leadership on LocalBitcoins is explained by high inflation and residents’ desire to preserve savings; Russia by capital controls and tight regulation.
The United Kingdom (6.3%) and Nigeria (5%) occupied the fourth and fifth spots. Argentina, Chile and Brazil were also active, countries facing high economic uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data: LocalBitcoins.
The activity of citizens in a country is closely linked to its position on the Bloomberg Misery Index, calculated based on unemployment and inflation. The metric puts Turkey in the top five, its citizens showing heightened interest in bitcoin amid the depreciation of the local lira.
Data: Bloomberg.
In September, the competing P2P platform for bitcoin trading Paxful announced the termination of service for customers from Venezuela due to tightening US sanctions.
In October, Arcane Research noted growth in P2P bitcoin transaction volumes as evidence of demand for the world’s first cryptocurrency.
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