Bitcoin’s popularity seems to be rising in Kenya, Malaysia, Russia and Venezuela - at least according to trading data coming out of LocalBitcoins.
Two weeks ago, bitcoin trading on LocalBitcoins in Kenya reached at
all-time high of 10,576,927 Ksh, however, for the week ending
2016-07-23, bitcoin trading volumes in the country totaled 10,239,393
Kenyan Shillings - second best week since 2013.
LocalBitcoins volume data coming out of Russia for the week ending
2016-07-23 also showed the second-highest figure at 185,250,939 Roubles.
The biggest surprise this week came out of Malaysia, where bitcoin
trading is off the charts. LocalBitcoins volumes for the past week
showed a new all-time high of 737,218 Malaysian Ringgits worth of
bitcoin turnover in the country.
So, one might pose this question: why is bitcoin so hot in Malaysia?
For starters, the ringgit has been on a losing streak since the US
authorities announced a major money laundering and embezzlement
investigation into state-owned 1Malaysia Development Bhd, which
allegedly laundered about $1 billion of the misappropriated funds
through banks in the U.S. The Malaysian ringgit dropped about 2.7% last
week - the biggest drop since September - due to the negative press
surrounding the international investigation, TheMalayOnline
reports. Low oil prices are also having a negative impact on the
outlook of the Malaysian economy and currency, as Malaysia is Asia’s
only major net oil exporting nation.
It really isn’t surprising that bitcoin is increasingly seen as a
safe-haven asset. A similar pattern was also observed in Norway. In the
aftermath of the Brexit vote, the Norwegian krone took a massive hit and
LocalBitcoins volume in Norway spiked immediately:
Like Kenya and Russia, bitcoin trading in Venezuela is thriving.
Another all-time high was recorded for the week ending 2016-07-23:
Charts source: Coin.dance
