Bitcoin Use Increasing in Turkey, Colombia and Venezuela

[aayush-admin]

In a recent report by Razor Forex, there was a solid increase in usage of Bitcoins in Turkey, Colombia and Venezuela.

Bitcoin trading volumes on LocalBitcoins in Colombia, Venezuela and Turkey, hit a new all-time high.

In Colombia, 409,331,921 Colombian pesos ($143,282 USD) in trades took place for the week ending 2017-02-04, as per the news report.
Venezuela - 11,232,494 bolivars ($366,898 USD)
Turkey - 512,281 Turkish lira ($139,085 USD) worth of bitcoin trades took place for the week ending 2017-02-04.

This sounds amazing!!

[Sikandar Mirza]

I think if we put it in short then the market value of Bitcoin all around the world has certainly increased and that’s no hard thing to guess, as it’s very much evident on the score sheet (price) as well. So, it’s indeed amazing but the challenge remains whether Bitcoin can back up the promise and continue on with rising, it’s going to be hard, but definitely not impossible, so will be wait and watch for the year.

[Tatiana Fedorova]

Last 6 months has been the best for Bitcoin in every way! We have seen so many countries coming forward and talking about it while the usage too has increased. I believe the biggest thing for Bitcoin is not the price that we see it rise, but the VOLUME that needs to rise. Because, if the volume increases than the stability too will come, but if only price goes high and volume remains low then we will continue to witness major drops and pickups.

[Hanaa El Moudden]

Colombia and Venezuela are 3rd world countries and there is a mini collapse of their local currencies apart from a civil war kind of situation in those countries with very high lawlessness and no economic growth. Turkey of late has fallen to a dictatorship.

So apart from their domestic situations on ground, it is heartening that Bitcoin is doing well despite of the difficulties. Now it just needs to be transformed into day to day transaction which seems far away but certainly possible!

[Alexander Bukarev]

They are from troubled parts of the world as somebody mentioned here. But in spite of that Bitcoin’s usage has raised means people are looking for alternative payments. Now the momentum needs to maintain else the usage would stall! But a conducive environment must also be created for its seamless use like regulatory clearance, good exchanges, more awareness and the likes. Few years from here would be quite critical for Bitcoin as we would know how they fared so far and what potential they still have!

[Chameera Silva]

If there is continued usage then it is really good but if it is temporary short term fix then the effect won’t be long lasting.

These countries seem to have some major economic issues which led to severe shortage of normal currencies, goods and services. At such time Bitcoins might have helped. But if & when situation returns to normal then the usage of Bitcoin might change! But Bitcoin is providing a real effective alternative which must be leveraged well enough!

[Aristomenis Kakounis]

Yes Chameera Silva. These countries are having various troubles on many fronts be it political, economic or otherwise. It is good to hear Bitcoin has been used increasingly in these countries; but it would be even better if that is for longer period of time than during the time of emergency. These are developing countries and have been in problem of late which compounded the miseries of its citizens. May be the authorities can provide good regulatory platform even though there is fear of misuse of BTC.

[Rizwan Khurashi]

Certainly a positive factor, more so when these countries are in troubled time. So the alternative Bitcoin has come like a savior to many together with its benefits of low fees, anonymity, opening of account and doing transactions, etc. Bitcoin in general have been increasing across the world in many countries, so this not really a surprise.

One must just follow the basic guidelines though and have a good approach to Bitcoin which would serve them well over time

[Alan Muzwayine]

Good for them and good for Bitcoin. Hope this would make Bitcoin as second most natural choice for people in those countries apart from their natural official currencies. But Bitcoin also needs to do its part well as the main transaction fees regarding sending/receiving and exchanging money should be minimum else there would not be no competitive advantage over other payment systems! There must also be some regulatory mechanism so that rogue exchanges/Bitcoin Wallets doesn’t cheat people.

[Papia Khatun Asha]

I think out of these only Turkey is the emerging market and the rest being just failed states with lots of economic & social problems. Even Turkey has its own share of problems too.

BTW it is good to see Bitcoin being used as a payment method in these countries which can help in times of crisis especially when the local conditions are not good. But only drawback for Bitcoin seems to be that it is based entirely online and needs suitable exchangers and other factors to do successful transactions.