1/ In my first research deep dive at @TheBlock__, I look at LocalBitcoins volumes. It turns out that 26.5% of all LocalBitcoins volumes are currently coming from Russia. Russia’s volumes are two times as high as the trailing Venezuela, which is at 12.2%
theblockcrypto.com/2018/10/26/ana…
theblockcrypto.com/2018/10/26/ana…
2/ LocalBitcoins data is fascinating because it is separated by countries. The data can be used as a proxy for measuring demand for Bitcoin in a specific country. Online exchanges, which is where the large majority is traded, don’t publish country specific data.
3/ Coin Dance aggregates LocalBitcoins data but still misses important features such as volumes in USD, demographic breakdown and weighting by population. So that’s where I step in. Thank you @CarpeNoctom for the inspiration.
4/ Here is a graph of global volumes on LocalBitcoins denominated in USD
5/ Here are graphs of volumes of the most active countries. It’s worth noting that the volumes started trending up in most countries in 2017. The US is an outlier here with constant growth from 2013 to the end of 2017. The UK seemed to be the most affected by the speculative boom
6/ Let’s look at historical volumes denominated in USD graphed on one chart. It’s becoming clear that Russia is starting to dominate LocalBitcoins volumes. This is because regulated on-ramps from Russian Ruble are not possible yet. At least until Russia approves new legislation
7/ Here are graphs of share of total volume of 12 most active countries on LocalBitcoins. The trend seems to be that the developed countries are losing its footing while the importance of developing countries in the Bitcoin ecosystem is quickly growing.
8/ Lastly, let's look at volumes weighted by population. Here is a graph depicting the current volumes divided by the country’s population. It’s logical that countries like China with more than a billion people will have larger volumes than Sweden with the population of 10M.
9/ Here is the chart. Venezuela is leading the way trailed by Russia while countries like UK, Australia and USA are falling behind. So Bitcoin is really significant for people going through hyperinflation? Seems like it.
10/ it’s now increasingly clear that BTC is becoming more important in the developing economies, which are starting to play a larger role in the Bitcoin ecosystem. In 2013, about 90% of all volume was coming from US, UK and Australia. Now, they share mere 19% of all volumes.
