LocalBitcoins

Welcome to our LocalBitcoins news page. Here you'll find some of our featured LocalBitcoins trading content pieces as well as all our latest LocalBitcoins platform posts.

Latest LocalBitcoin Trading Volume Data Shows Russia Outpaces Venezuela in Bitcoin Transactions

According to data provided by LocalBitcoins, during the week of March 2, Russians transacted 3,593 in BTC. During the same period of time, around the world were transacted 14,365 BTC. That means that Russia handled 25% of all the BTC moved using the LocalBitcoins platform.

LocalBitcoins’ Volume in Russia Grows

Russia has traded almost 3,600 BTC against the Russian ruble (RUB) on LocalBitcoin during the last week. In this way, Russia became the largest market in the LocalBitcoins platform. In the second position, we can see Venezuela, a country that has been affected by a hard economic, social and political crisis.

Venezuela handled 1,953 BTC during the last week, representing 13.59% of the whole volume registered by LocalBitcoins during that period of time. Venezuelans have been moving towards Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies after the complicated situation that they are currently living in their country.

The United States is also registering a large number of BTC moved. Individuals in the country transacted 1,807 BTC for USD last week. This is equal to $9.67 million worth of trade. That means that the United States is the third largest market for LocalBitcoins after Russia and Venezuela.

The fourth largest market is Nigeria, with 903 BTC traded for its local fiat currency the Nigerian naira (NGN). 903 BTC is equal to around $3.32 million.

China, the Eurozone, and the United Kingdom follow in terms of trading volume in LocalBitcoins. Indeed, China moved 839 BTC, the Eurozone 830, and the United Kingdom 806 BTC. These three together accounted for 17% of the whole trading volume on the platform.

The worst performers have been Croatia and Hungary, that transacted 1 BTC each last week. India and South Africa had also good performances with 317 BTC and 288 BTC respectively.

Bitcoin Trading Volume In The USA & Indonesia On LocalBitcoins Reaches All Time Highs

Bitcoin Trading Volume In The USA & Indonesia On LocalBitcoins Reach ATH

In February, the US traders on LocalBitcoins, a peer-to-peer platform registered significant growth as it traded $31.5 million worth of Bitcoin. In comparison to the previous traded value where it didn’t break above $12.4 billion, the platform saw a significant surge.

Source: Coin Dance

Bitcoin Gets A Boost In Indonesia Following Legalization

Another country to join the ranks of Venezuela in terms of reaching record trading volume in Bitcoin is Indonesia. According to the data provided by Coin Dance, the last week saw a huge spike on the P2P Bitcoin exchange, LocalBitcoins. Traders exchanged 10.3 billion rupiahs ($730,000) in comparison to previous week’s 4.5 billion rupiahs ($319,000). In the weeks before, the value exchanged has been around half a million rupiah only.

Source: https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins/IDR, Source: Coin Dance

This has been in line with the recent news that came from the Indonesian Trade Ministry Futures Exchange Supervisory Board (Bappebti). By passing the regulation No.5/219, the regulatory authority has given the cryptocurrencies formal recognition as commodities.

Based on the new ruling, digital assets are now legalized in the country. It further involves cryptocurrency exchanges that must employ services to keep the records of their transactions for a minimum of five years.

“We want to give protection to people who want to invest in crypto assets so that they aren’t cheated by fraudulent sellers,” said Bappebti chief, Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana on the need for these regulations.

Other countries that saw a similar surge in 2019 and especially in the month of February are Peru and South Korea.

In the first week of February, 3.5 million Peruvian Sol ($1,052,109 USD) were traded by Peru people on LocalBitcoins.However, the last week saw a dip to 2.8 million Peruvian Sol ($858,618 USD).

The first week of February also saw a surge in Bitcoin trading volume in South Korean Won on LocalBitcoins at 132,337,436 South Korean won($1,17,589 USD).

Back in December 2018, it has been revealed by South Korea’s financial regulator that various crypto related bills have been submitted to the National Assembly that revolves around user protection. Meanwhile, the ban on ICOs will remain in the country.

“The government has taken a cautious stance on the institutionalization of ICOs. We will stick to it,” confirmed the state financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in a press release on Jan. 30.

https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/bitcoin-btc-ethereum-eth-xrp-ripple-and-bch-price-analysis-watch-feb-18th/

LocalBitcoins Data Shows 23 Countries Hit All-Time High in Bitcoin Trading Volume at the Bottom of Bear Market

According to the latest analysis of the LocalBitcoins (LBC), a peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading platform, Bitcoin utility around the world is hitting new heights.

The author Matt Ahlborg details that exclusive fiat-to-crypto platform, LBC is a costly one as trades on this platform occurs “at an average of 4.5% over the USD equivalent spot price globally.” Despite this, people around the world are accumulating on Bitcoin through this platform.

https://twitter.com/phil_geiger/status/1095061573289181184

The high cost and fiat-to-crypto exclusivity state that “fewer traders are using it for “speculative reasons” compared to other exchanges.

LocalBitcoins Traded $3 Billion worth of Bitcoin in 2018

In 2018, LBC traded 440,000 Bitcoins that is equivalent of $3.1 billion USD. Russia has the highest share at $756 million followed by the USA at $373 million. China also traded just above $300 million worth in BTC while both Venezuela and Nigeria invested over $200 million.

USD Equivalent BTC Volume (2018)

Regionally, the developed countries in North America and Western Europe were first to register considerable volume that was triggered by 2013’s bubble but soon South and Central America overtook this space. This Venezuela-fueled trading has been on a “consistent uptrend.”

Usage per (Online) Economic-Person

In order to get the best reflection of the Bitcoin’s impact globally while adjusting the factor of “most populous, richest, and most internet connected countries naturally overshadow the rest,” he came up with a new metric Usage per (Online) Economic-Person, or UP(O)EP.

In late 2013, meaningful UP(O)EP started in developed countries and then migrated to less developed ones. While OFAC, EU, and UN sanctioned countries like North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and Iran remained on the sidelines, Venezuela, Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana went full in that have a minimum threshold of internet and smartphone penetration, and technical literacy.

Venezuela Bitcoin Trading volume, Source: Coindance

Economic Freedom & Bitcoin Accumulation

The countries with high levels of economic freedom were trading Bitcoin more in 2013 to 2015. However, Bitcoin utility is “higher in countries which are economically oppressed.” However, it’s still a beginning as trends just have started to emerge.

The author shares the concerns regarding the data analysis with the introduction of cheaper and more user-friendly regulated exchanges in recent years in the developed countries that has caused the trade volumes on LBC to migrate away. Also, UP(O)EP values in the US, Japan, and EU are likely “underrepresented.”

“In the 4th quarter of 2018, as Bitcoin price and interest seemed to hit their doldrums, 23 countries on LBC had their best quarters ever.”

Almost all of these 23 countries are in the developing world and for now though these volumes may seem insignificant, compared to three years back, Venezuela’s volume was less than 1 percent of what it is now.

https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/bitcoin-btc-ethereum-eth-xrp-ripple-and-bch-price-analysis-watch-feb-12th/

LocalBitcoins Users Find Their Bitcoin Stolen in Wake of Phishing Attack, Forum Officially Suspended

One of the more well known Over The Counter (OTC) Bitcoin trading platforms for peer to peer buying and selling, LocalBitcoins has not been exempt from the rising wave of Cyber crime over the past few years. According to the company, users have reported that various quantities of Bitcoin have been stolen thanks to a phishing scam that made its way around.

This has predominantly affected those active users on the company's forum, where its users were misled into giving away their essential information. How the scammers were able to do this was through redirecting users to a phishing page.

Once the user had put in their information, the scammers could use the code in order to access their accounts and move the cryptocurrency out of their accounts.

Users Take to Reddit to Complain - Report That LocalBitcoins Forum is Compromised by Cybercrime

This comes from the subreddit user u/bitcoinbabeau took it upon himself to provide users with a public service announcement regarding the forum of LocalBitcoins. Stating that it had officially been compromised, while warning users not to input any information if they are redirected.

He does go on to warn people that this is a highly sophisticated scam; going to incredible lengths to emulate and mimic the originally landing page in order to lull users into a false sense of security. When confronted at this page, users are encouraged to login with their two-factor authentication codes.

This may have helped an unknown number of users that may have otherwise fallen for the scam. Fortunately, the LocalBitcoins team has since announced that the forum has been 'temporarily disabled' in order to prevent others from falling into the same trap.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/ajzym3/psa_localbitcoinscom_compromised_do_not_attempt/

The message that was also placed on this temporarily disabled page is also a URL to the LocalBitcoins Subreddit, where a number of users have already taken the initiative in sharing their unfortunate experiences.

According to one Reddit user, he had lost a great deal of his initial investment in Bitcoin in one fell swoop, with others reportedly losing a grand total of nearly 11 BTC, equating to roughly $33,000.

“Yeah, I think I was the first to get cleaned out. 0.14btc. 5 victims going to one wallet. And that’s just one wallet we know about that belongs to the attacker,” reported u/tefl0ncc.

Among those posting on the subreddit, one took it upon themselves to post the wallet address used by the hacker, raising possible suspicions that there is more than one scammer involved in this series of phishing scams. Within this particular hacker's wallet, it appears to have only taken 7.95 Bitcoin between 5 movements of crypto in total.

While this is a large volume in its own right, equalling $28,000 worth of BTC. If there are users out there reporting that they had lost more than this from their wallet, then multiple scammers must be involved.

What is to Blame for This Phishing Attack? Could be Down to DNS Spoofing

While this is being reported, the company has yet to provide any statement or conclusive evidence as to what allowed for this phishing scam to take place. They are, however, proving highly vigilant in making customers aware that they are working hard to resolve the issue.  This is evidenced by their rapid response in taking the forum offline to prevent further users from falling victim.

One question remains to be answered for many users of the platform, however - How exactly was this attack able to happen to them? Some speculators argue that the forum and site may have fallen prey to an otherwise commonly occurring DNS Spoofing attack.

In doing this, Hackers are able to use DNS spoofing to misdirect users to a whole other domain without them knowing it isn't the original one. These are commonly designed to steal sensitive . information and valuables from unknowing users. This has been the case for websites in the past, as well as for users of LocalBitcoins.

While the subreddit users offered their own diverse commentary, there are those that suggest that the hacker or hackers are using "some kind of digital script to use the 2FA code entered by the user to withdraw the Bitcoin."

One of the more recent examples of this DNS Spoofing attack includes the very commonly used Ethereum based and ERC20 digital asset wallet, MyEtherWallet was subject to this spoofing attack as of last year. Users found themselves accessing their account through a fake site which they were unknowingly misdirected towards. This had since allowed hackers to obtain access to their accounts and, by extension, their funds.

Some of the measures that users can take in order to prevent further cybercriminal attacks include double checking the URL associated to the page they want to visit. Those visiting websites they suspected of being spoofed should also look for a lock within the URL bar, demonstrating that the page is securely connected.

New LocalBitcoins' Bitcoin Trading Volume In Venezuela Increases At Record Numbers

Bitcoin Volume In Venezuela Increases At Record Numbers

Venezuela has recently experienced the biggest spike in Bitcoin volume over the last week. Never before people used so much Bitcoin (BTC) in Venezuela, a country that is currently plagued by hyperinflation that is destroying its economy.

P2P purchases and transactions are on the rise as the Venezuelan crisis only gets worse and the inflation does not seem to go down ever again. This week saw an increase of 11% in the use of Bitcoin with 1,974 BTC being transferred this week. This is the highest activity that the country has ever seen for BTC in its history.

Inflation Rises Over One Million Percent

While people call Bitcoin to be volatile, the truth is that losing like 80% of its value during a year is basically nothing when you compare to losing 95% of its value in a single day. That’s right, this is what is happening to Venezuela’s fiat currency. The national money of Venezuela is basically doomed.

This month, Venezuela will hit yearly inflation of one million percent. The inflation in the United States, for instance, is about 2.2% and the inflation of neighboring countries like Brazil and Argentina (both deep in an economic crisis) are, respectively, will end up in 4,5% and 47,5%. Some more stable countries like Chile and Peru have inflation of around 3% both.

According to reports from experts in the area, the inflation could reach 10 million percent at the end of 2019 if the problems are not solved. Prices are doubling or tripling every month and this generates an exponential growth rate for inflation, which is very bad for the country.

To make things even worse, the economy of the country has shrunk at least 50%, which proves that the economy of the country will remain bad for a long time.

In fact, the crisis is so harsh that a lot of people are fleeing the country and are very fearful to return. With almost no money and a lot of people starving, Venezuela has hit a really sad point in its history.

The Reasons For The Spike

Unfortunately, most of the reasons behind the move are unclear. Is it because some people need to receive in the national failed cryptocurrency, the Petro? It is because it’s Christmas? Maybe the oil crisis could also be a factor.

The fact is that Bitcoin is more popular than ever now in the country and more people know that it is a very safe alternative to get paid.

Bitcoin Around The World

US citizens are following the opposite trend of Venezuela and buying less Bitcoin, something that could be expected because of the whole market crisis that has struck the market this year. A devaluation of 85% in a year is huge when compared to 2,2%.

Colombia is also buying more Bitcoin now and Argentina, with high inflation, also follows the trend.