LocalBitcoins Sees a Surge in Mexico’s Bitcoin Trading Volume After Trump’s Threat of Remittance

Despite the market finally scaling back after an early April Surge, the Coin Dance data suggest that the Bitcoin trading volumes in many countries are still on the rise. The data is a clear indication of public interest towards the digital asset.

According to the Coin Dance data which monitors a number of peer-to-peer exchange platforms like Localbitcoins, Paxful, and Bisq, suggest that certain markets are still seeing a spike in Bitcoin activity. The movement started with the April month’s unprecedented rise in bitcoin and other altcoin prices, where the majority of the crypto space made double-digit gains breaking their upper key resistance levels.

The monitoring data suggests that over the past week countries like Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, Kazakhstan, and many others saw a surge in Bitcoin volume on their respective local Bitcoin exchange and market places. April 13th was especially a successful day in Mexico’s Bitcoin trading history as it created a new record for Bitcoin trading in the country. The Localbitcoins set an all-time new record of 10.67 million pesos ($568,000).

The peak in trading volumes is quite a contrast to the last week’s Bitcoin trading volume where 8.6 million pesos changed hands and this week the record 10.67 million worth of trade became an all-time record surpassing the previous record of 10.62 million in March of 2018.

The Catalysts For The Bitcoin Trading Volume Surge

Many believe the main reason and the catalysts for the recent surge in Bitcoin trading volumes in Mexico is US foreign policy where president Donald Trump threatened to target traditional fiat-based remittance channels. This has opened the gates for using censorship-resistant digital assets like Bitcoin.

Bitcoin has come to the rescue of many 3rd world countries who are either suffering from financial troubles due to hyperinflation or being suppressed by harsh trade policies initiated by the United States. Take Venezuela for example whose banking systems have failed the country and the hyperinflation has made its money worthless. People are actually dumping fiat currency on streets as it is not even worth the paper it is printed on.

If not for Bitcoin, Venezuela would have been devasted by the civil war as the government’s corruption and inability to run the country has made it one of the poorest nations. The Coin Dance data suggest the same as both Mexico and Venezuela have surpassed their last week’s Bitcoin trading volume.

Venezuela's fiat the Sovereign Bolivar (VES), last week saw the equivalent of 30 billion units trade across Localbitcoins, beating the previous all-time high of 26.4 billion sets the week before.

Kazakhstan and Tanzania Experience The Bitcoin Trading Volume Surge As Well

If we move past South America, even countries like Kazakhstan has continued its Bitcoin trading boom where the country recorded its highest Bitcoin trading volume last week with 55 million tenges ($145,000). The record surge in volume was accompanied with unexpected quitting by the veteran president Nursultan Nazarbayev last month.

Apart from Kazakhstan, even Tanzania recorded new highs in its Bitcoin trading volumes where the country recorded 165 million shillings ($71,000) across Localbitcoins. Tanzania might have recorded spike in trading volumes of Bitcoin, but its peak trading volume of 294 million from April last year still remains intact.

The Recent Surge In Prices Gave Rise To New Trading Trends

The recent price surge of cryptocurrencies starting from April 2nd has also given rise to new trading phenomenons. If we talk about the Asian countries like China South Korea, the buyers started paying fiat premiums for cryptocurrency this month.

The Chinese market saw a surge in Tether volume as well since the stable coin is used for trading with other assets. This led to tether facing higher CNY exchange prices than the US Dollar counterparts.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, overall 24-hour trading volumes for Bitcoin on regular exchanges totaled approximately $10.9 billion on Monday. If we take other altcoins into consideration then the value reaches well over $38 billion.