According to data compiled by Coin.dance, Bitcoin transactions in Venezuela on the peer-to-peer crypto trading platform LocalBitcoins just hit a new record high.
Bitcoin transactions for the week ending February 9th reached 2,545, up from 2,004 transactions in the previous week. With Bitcoin currently trading at $3,671, at time of publishing, Venezuela moved roughly $9.3 million in Bitcoin during the record high.
Venezuela has been enduring massive hyperinflation. The country’s spiraling economy has rocked Caracas with violent protests, destabilizing every aspect of daily life and prompting a mass exodus to neighboring Colombia.
People are turning to LocalBitcoins to buy and sell Bitcoin in order to store value and transfer money among friends and family members.
As volumes soar, LocalBitcoins is preparing to comply with new anti-money laundering (AML) legislation drafted by Finnish lawmakers.
According to a company statement,
“It is LocalBitcoins’ mission to bring Bitcoin everywhere and by being a reference in compliance, we also aim to promote trust, legitimacy and maturity in the Bitcoin ecosystem, while paving the way for it to become a more viable and widespread currency and combating criminal use of Bitcoin and its network. We are confident that the new measures will bring significant benefits to our user base, promoting a safer trading environment and acting proactively in preventing fraud.”
The Helsinki-based fintech company says the new legislation will bring major changes to its platform, primarily impacting its user-identity verification process, wallet withdrawals and trade volume-based verification tiers. The company says it will provide more details in March.
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