Venezuela Smashes Weekly Bitcoin Trading Record With 114B Bolivars

Bitcoin (BTC) trading has hit a giant new record yet again in Venezuela as the country’s crippling hyperinflation continues to play out.

LocalBitcoins volume up 48%

Data published on Sep. 2 from monitoring resource Coin Dance, which tracks trade volumes on P2P crypto exchange platforms, showed Venezuelans traded more last week than ever before.

In the seven days ending Aug. 31, 114 billion sovereign bolivars (VES) changed hands on LocalBitcoins alone. 

That figure dwarfs the previous record set the week before at 77 billion. In Bitcoin terms, however, the uptick was far smaller, rising from 465 BTC to 533 BTC.

Venezuela LocalBitcoins trade volume. Source: Coin Dance

Authorities tout sanctioned Petro

As Cointelegraph has reported, recent weekly highs in VES trading underscore the weakness of the Venezuelan currency as it devalues against every other. 

The inflation rate in fact dipped in July after the government brought in financial controls. While figures of 10 million percent circulated before, July’s annual rate of inflation was more like 265,000%, Reuters reported in August.

The government nonetheless is still pushing its controversial national currency, which includes state-issued digital currency, Petro. Last week, a remittance system for Petro came into being, but its use perspectives remain uncertain in the wake of sweeping sanctions against the token.

A deal to allow one of Venezuela’s largest department store chains, Traki, to accept cryptocurrency payments meanwhile completed the week previously.