The week just ended recorded new all-time highs on LocalBitcoins in terms of trading volumes in Argentina and Venezuela.
The two South American countries are plagued by an inflationary spiral of their currencies which does not hint at braking, hence this downright bitcoin race should not come as a surprise.
In particular, in Venezuela the situation of the national currency is terrifying, and the Petro crypto has not helped to reduce hyperinflation.
The continuous collapse of the purchasing power of the Bolivar is continuing to push Venezuelans who have savings in this currency to exchange them for bitcoin, although the trading volumes on LocalBitcoins are still quite low.
The new historical high reached during the week that has just ended has seen the exchange of more than 410 billion bolivars, exceeding for the first time quota 400 billion. The previous peak was reached during the week in the middle of January, with 396 billion bolivars.
In bitcoin, the trading volume during this last week stopped at 672 BTC, or about 4 and a half million dollars, which is not a record, but is still the highest volume of BTC traded in Venezuela in 2020 on LocalBitcoins.
All-time highs in Argentina
This also is true for Argentina, where, although there is no hyperinflation, the national currency is significantly losing purchasing power, at a very fast pace.
In the week which has just ended, the new all-time high on LocalBitcoins was recorded with almost 38 million pesos traded.
The previous peak occurred at the beginning of March with 32 million pesos.
In bitcoin, it’s a very low volume, 66 BTC (ie less than half a million dollars), but it’s still the highest volume since late 2016, when a bitcoin was worth even less than $1,000.
Colombia: even here BTC marks historical records
In the week that has just ended, there were very high trading volumes on LocalBitcoins also in Colombia, another South American country bordering Venezuela.
In fact, it was the third-highest peak ever, with over 10 billion Colombian pesos traded. The all-time high had occurred in May 2019, with almost 11 million, therefore only slightly higher than the one just recorded.
In bitcoin, it is 408 BTC traded in a week, equal to just under 3 million dollars.
The curious thing is that Colombia does not suffer from particularly high inflation, even though it is higher than that of countries with very stable currencies such as the US or Japan. Since July 2019, it has risen a bit, with a new recent peak in March.
It is worth mentioning, however, that Colombia is home to a large number of Venezuelans fleeing their country, and it is likely that this will help to generate more awareness of Bitcoin in the country.
