On 17th March, President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro proclaimed national quarantine due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This led to growth in Bitcoin trading volume in the country.
To date, only 33 cases of Coronavirus infections have been recorded in Venezuela, despite this Maduro decided to take the stringent measures and hence to enact national quarantine. This resulted in the temporary closure of most companies, including banks, so Bitcoin has turned out to be a real alternative to fiat money.
At the beginning of 2020, Bitcoin demonstrated its record trading volume with Venezuelan bolivar on the platform LocalBitcoins. Since then, trading volumes have been gradually declining, however, two weeks ago the popularity of Bitcoin has grown again.
It seems that the spread of Coronavirus affected the popularity of the first Cryptocurrency throughout the Latin American continent. Thus, Bitcoin trading volume in Peru increased by 30%, and in Columbia — by 15%. Both countries recently closed their borders. Earlier this month, it was reported that global Bitcoin trading volumes on the platform LocalBitcoins had fallen to a 7-year low. Previously, the leading peer-to-peer exchange platform has lost a significant number of users and faced a loss of credibility due to the blocking of accounts and the transfer of customers’ personal data to law enforcement agencies.
