"Peer-to-peer Bitcoin (BTC) trading has surged in Venezuela after shutting banks amid a nationwide quarantine to fight the spread of coronavirus.
On March 17, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro brought a country-wide quarantine to slow the spread of COVID-19. With only 33 cases of coronavirus confirmed so far, the administration hopes that the emergency measures will prevent its health system from becoming overwhelmed by a rapid increase in infections.
Venezuela’s national banking system has been halted “indefinitely” as part of the sudden quarantine, sparking an increase in P2P cryptocurrency trading. After a three week skid in weekly volume, Localbitcoins trade activity between BTC and the bolivar has rebounded back above $3.4 million for the past two weeks.
The economic ramifications of the coronavirus appear to be driving cryptocurrency adoption across the South American continent, with Localbitcoins volume jumping over 30% in Peru and increasing nearly 15% in Colombia over the past week. Both Peru and Colombia have closed their borders in recent days."
On March 17, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro brought a country-wide quarantine to slow the spread of COVID-19. With only 33 cases of coronavirus confirmed so far, the administration hopes that the emergency measures will prevent its health system from becoming overwhelmed by a rapid increase in infections.
Venezuela’s national banking system has been halted “indefinitely” as part of the sudden quarantine, sparking an increase in P2P cryptocurrency trading. After a three week skid in weekly volume, Localbitcoins trade activity between BTC and the bolivar has rebounded back above $3.4 million for the past two weeks.
The economic ramifications of the coronavirus appear to be driving cryptocurrency adoption across the South American continent, with Localbitcoins volume jumping over 30% in Peru and increasing nearly 15% in Colombia over the past week. Both Peru and Colombia have closed their borders in recent days."