Bitcoin (BTC) Trading Volumes Reach Their Highest Peak Ever In Venezuela via LocalBitcoins Data

As the economic crisis gets worse in Venezuela, the citizens of the country are starting to use more and more Bitcoin. For the first time ever now, the usage of BTC in the country has surpassed 2,000 BTC, around $7 million USD in a single day.

The numbers come from Localbitcoins, an exchange that works on P2P basis. Venezuelans also use other exchanges, but most of the centralized ones are either based in Colombia, Brazil or other countries, so the estimates are impossible to be made.

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When we consider the trades in Colombia, 640 BTC changed hands yesterday while $5.3 million USD was transacted in Brazil on a single exchange in this timeframe. Certainly, some of the people who actually exchanged the money were from Venezuela, but obviously not a big part of the numbers.

The volume of Venezuela, despite not being as high as Brazil, for instance, is very significant, though, especially when you consider the crisis that Venezuela is in and the fact that Bitcoin trades rose four times in about half a year.

With the collapse of the Venezuelan Bolivar, the local fiat currency, and an inflation that reaches 1,000,000%, the situation is certainly very difficult.

According to some reports, the authorities from the country may be seizing gold and cash, so using Bitcoin minimizes the chances of having your assets seized.

Venezuelan Government In Dispute

The fact that there are currently “two presidents” in the country only makes matters worse. The president of the country, Nicolas Maduro, is against the self-proclaimed acting president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, which is the leader of the opposition.

According to reports, the country also has a wave of fake news from both sides and the official government does not act in a very clear and open way, so people get even more worried about the future, which leads them to try and get an important asset like Bitcoin, which can be protected from the authorities.

Food and medicine supplies are also short on the country and there are reports that Maduro is blocking them from coming, as he understands that they are part of a plot to invade the country. This way, the black market in the country has grown a lot and many people use BTC in order to pay for what they need, as the token exists outside of the banking system.

All these issues are certain to have raised the awareness about BTC in the country and made it important for the survival of the local people.

The situation is certainly going to continue to be difficult for a long time since the dispute between the two presidents is far from over as Maduro has the support of Russia and China and military of the country, and Guaidó has the support of the United States, Canada, Brazil and other countries from Latin America.

Even if the current situation is solved, though, things would continue to be difficult, as either president would simply not magically make the economy suddenly better and it would still take months, if not years, for the situation to be better again.

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