The global peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin markets have seen record trading volume as a consequence of last week’s major price retracement. According to data provided by Coindance, numerous national markets saw historically unprecedented trade volume throughout December – suggesting that many investors may have been taking profits following bitcoin’s dramatic bull run up to the $20,000 USD area.
Also Read: Markets Update: BTC Value Against the Dollar Continues to Slide
Global P2P Trading Soars
According to Coindance, the week of the 23rd of December saw over $130 million worth of bitcoin exchange hands via Localbitcoins – comprising the largest week of P2P trade in bitcoin’s history.
Western P2P Markets Surge During Week of 23rd of December
The P2P bitcoin markets of most western nations saw record-breaking trade volume this past week. Peer-to-peer trade in USD set a new record for volume, with over $12.4 million in bitcoins exchanging hands. The Australasian markets have consistently rallied across December, with Australia’s P2P markets experiencing new all-time highs for trade volume for each consecutive week during December, whilst New Zealand’s markets broke volume records during weeks of the 2nd, 9th, and 23rd of December.
P2P trade between bitcoin and the national currencies of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom all set new records during the week of the 23rd of December, whilst peer-to-peer trade between bitcoin and the Euro established record trade volume during the week of the 16th of September.
Eastern European Markets Witness Record Trade Volume During December
Russian P2P bitcoin trade established a new volume record of $1.75 billion RUB during the week of the 23rd of December – exceeding its prior record from the week of the 9th of December by approximately $30 million RUB. Last week’s volume spike comprised a new RUB/BTC volume record for the third time in four weeks.
Polish and Czech P2P bitcoin trading established record volume during the weeks of the 9th and the 16th of December, before experiencing a retracement heading into the week of the 23rd of December. During last week, trade in the Romanian Leu (ROL) fell roughly $2,500 ROL shy of testing its prior weekly volume record of approximately $1,425,000 ROL – that was established during the week of the 9th of December. Trade between bitcoin and the Kazakh Tenge also set a new record high for the week of the 9th of December, before volume consistently declined during the ensuing two weeks. Ukraine’s P2P markets also established a new record for trading volume during the week of the 9th of December.
Latin American P2P Markets Rally Throughout December
Several Latin American P2P bitcoin markets established new all-time highs for trade volume this past week, with Peru, Chile, and Venezuela all witnessing record-breaking volume.
Peru broke its preceding P2P volume record by almost 50%, with more than $1.5 million PEN worth of bitcoin exchanging hands during the week of the 23rd of December. During the same week, Chile also smashed its previous peer-to-peer volume high by nearly 50%, with more than $200 million CLP worth of bitcoin trading on Localbitcoins last week. Venezuelan P2P trading has continued on its trajectory of exponential growth, with over $350 billion VEF in bitcoin trading this past week.
Other South American peer-to-peer bitcoin markets have seen record trade volume in recent weeks, with Argentina and Colombia setting new records for volume during the week of the 16th of December, and the P2P markets of Mexico and the Dominican Republic experiencing record trade volume during the week of the 9th of December.
West Asian P2P Markets Have Also Witnessed a Dramatic Spike in Trade Volume During December
In the last four weeks, Iranian peer-to-peer trade has produced $71.2 billion IRR, almost $49.7 billion IRR, $26.6 billion IRR, and $16.7 billion IRR in trade respectively – dwarfing the Iranian markets’ previous volume high of $6.3 billion IRR in trade from the week of the 4th of November. Trade between the United Arab Emirates dirham (AED) and BTC has also smashed its prior volume record this month, with the last three weeks’ trade posting consecutive volume records comprising more than double that of the previous high.
Turkey has also witnessed record volume in its P2P markets for the preceding three weeks, with trade exceeding $1.7 million TRY during the week of the 23rd of December. Saudi Arabia established a record high of over $3.3 million SAR for P2P volume during the week of the 9th of December.
South East Asian Markets Witness Spikes in P2P Trade
The week of the 23rd of December saw several Southeast Asian peer-to-peer bitcoin markets set record trade volume, with Vietnam and Malaysia almost doubling their preceding all-time volume highs, and Indonesia also posting a new all-time high for volume.
The P2P markets for China, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines set new records for volume during the week of the 9th of December, whilst Hong Kong’s Localbitcoins markets rallied to establish a new volume high for the week of the 16th of December.
Other International Markets
The South Asian P2P bitcoin markets also experienced a dramatic spike in volume during December, with both India and Pakistan’s Localbitcoins markets witnessing weekly volume comprising more than double that of their preceding records.
Select African P2P markets rallied during December, with Nigeria and South Africa both setting record volume during the week of the 16th of December. Kenya established a new all-time high for trade volume during the week of the 9th of December.
Do you think that we will continue to see growth in the dollar-value of the trade volume witnessed by the P2P markets? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Coindance
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