Venezuela is not the most pleasant country to live in right now. Hyperinflation in the region is soaring to new heights virtually every quarter. It does not appear the central bank has any option to solve this platform anytime soon. Things are only getting worse as more time progresses. It is not entirely surprising to learn more and more people are looking to obtain cryptocurrency. Venezuela set a new weekly LocalBitcoins volume once again.
One thing to keep in mind when checking the LocalBitcoins volume is how it is affected by the local inflation. Just because the amount of VEF spent goes up doesn’t mean there are more Bitcoin buyers per se. It just takes more of the local currency to purchase one Bitcoin. This is mainly due to the Venezuelan Bolivar losing purchasing power the longer you hold it. As a result, one needs to spend more VEF to get the same amount of Bitcoin. At the same time, the Bitcoin price isn’t exactly stable either by any means.
Venezuela Shows an Increasing Appetite for Bitcoin
That being said, it’s good to see Venezuela set a new record on LocalBitcoins. Last week, nearly 11 million Bolivar changed hands on LocalBitcoins alone. Keep in mind struggling economies also have a black market for other financial assets. It is possible the street value of Bitcoin is very different from LocalBitcoins prices right now. A growing interest cannot be denied, regardless of how you want to look at things. Just the week before, the volume was around 8.8 million VEF. A nice growth, all things considered.
People who live in this country have very little options at their disposal. Investing cash into other assets is practically impossible. The central bank and government have a tight grip on how people spend their money. Converting to bullion, silver, or any other asset is heavily regulated. Bitcoin is the only option available to everyday people these days. It may only be a matter of time until the government cracks down on LocalBitcoins as well, though. When that happens, things will get pretty interesting, to say the least.
It is worth mentioning Bitcoin adoption is also on the rise in Kazakhstan. That is another region people rarely talk about when it comes to cryptocurrency. The LocalBitcoins market is flourishing, despite its overall trading volume still being pretty small. It is good to see different corners of the world show a growing interest in cryptocurrencies. More importantly, peer-to-peer exchanging is gaining in popularity as well. It is due time we rid ourselves of these centralized exchange platforms who act as custodians of our funds.
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