In short
- Venezuela is LocalBitcoins second-largest market, while Colombia has jumped to the # 3 spot.
- Thanks to failing economies, both countries, along with Argentina, are near the top of the Bloomberg 2020 Distress Index.
- Citizens seem to be using Bitcoin as a store of value.
Two Latin American countries have placed themselves in the top three for Bitcoin trading on LocalBitcoins – the dominant peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platform for cryptocurrency.
According to a post by the educational group “Satoshi en Venezuela” published by LocalBitcoins, Venezuela has maintained its position as the second-largest Bitcoin trader in the world, accounting for 12.3% of all trade volume worldwide in 2020. Only Russia (17.4%) surpasses the socialist nation , according to data published by LocalBitcoins and confirmed. without Decrypt through the Useful Tulip crypto data website.
But a new player is coming into the scene: Colombia.
Venezuela’s neighboring nation took third place after moving 11.3% of all Bitcoins traded on LocalBitcoins. The country also leads ATM ATM market in Latin America with 60 ATMs installed, providing some evidence that interest in cryptocurrencies is growing as fast as symbolic prices.
With 23% of the total LocalBitcoins market, two Latin American countries beat the trading frequency registered by sub-Saharan Africa, a region with a booming volume on the rival Paxful platform.
The reasons appear to be mainly geopolitical and financial. Referring to Venezuela, the post states, “Hyperinflation in the country has caused Bitcoin exchange volume to rise significantly in the country. This is also influencing the volume in its neighboring country, Colombia.”
Apart from Colombia and Venezuela, other economies that play a relevant role in the Latin American market are Argentina, Chile and Brazil. Using Bitcoin as a middle pandemic value store seems to be one of the main causes of these markets’ recent move towards crypto economics.
During Mauricio Macri’s government, which ended in December 2019, Argentina sank to an economic low, hitting the # 2 position onwards. BloombergThe 2020 Distress Index, behind Venezuela and three spots in front of Colombia.