Mad money policy and Bitcoin’s Christmas rush have produced new record trading volumes on LocalBitcoins in four countries this week.
Russia, Chile and Romania set new highs in an international push coming on the back of Bitcoin’s spiraling price, which reached over $935 Tuesday.
Against all odds
Venezuela improved on its personal best, with over 6.5 mln bolivars traded on the week of Christmas Eve, December 24. Its previous high of 6.4 mln was set three weeks earlier, amid panic brought on by president Nicolas Maduro suddenly decommissioning the country’s highest-value banknote.
Russia had also previously set a precedent for increased trading interest. Earlier this month, after years of uncertainty and threats of punishment for using it to transact, a surprise announcement suddenly saw virtual currency become legal.
LocalBitcoins itself was targeted by authorities, being forced to sidestep a country-wide block by setting up a mirror site in September.
Meanwhile, in Chile, trading patterns appeared to follow those of Venezuela, with a new landmark volume of 27.7 mln pesos changing hands three weeks after 26.4 mln was the country’s previous high.
The surprise move in the statistics relayed on Reddit that Romania is a comparatively quiet market which nonetheless delivered a decisive turnaround this week. Almost 731,000 leu were traded, compared with a previous high set in May of 535,000.
LocalBitcoins: ‘no new currencies’
Meanwhile, LocalBitcoins have kept quiet on celebrating record trading but did find time to confirm it would not be adding any other cryptocurrencies for the time being.
Also celebrating this week was BitSquare, with the exchange reporting at its best week ever for the United States market.
It is prudent at this time to remind readers to retain maximum security measures regarding their coins and exchanging them. Do not store funds on exchanges, including LocalBitcoins, unnecessarily - these can be compromised at any time, as 2016’s ten major hacks demonstrate.
Similarly, always take advantage of the added, yet still optional, security tools offered by exchanges, such as two-factor authentication. Never share passwords with a third party.