Due to the difficult economic situation that the pandemic generates, some citizens decide to buy bitcoins to save money.
Weekly trading volume in Chile’s fiat currency recently hit a new peak in LocalBitcoins. Additionally, cryptocurrency market data platform CoinDance shows that LocalBitcoins volume in Chile hit a new record. During the week that ended on April 4th, the volume of LocalBitcoins in Chile was more than 330 million Chilean pesos.
As happens with the Argentine peso and the Bolivar in Venezuela, the Chilean peso has fallen compared to the US dollar. According to the Central Bank of Chile, last Friday 24th, each US dollar was equivalent to 859 Chilean pesos.
As the gap between the Chilean peso and the US dollar increases, the same thing happens between the Chilean peso and Bitcoin, as long as the price of this cryptocurrency remains stable or does not decrease. Depreciation occurs due to the economic difficulties Chile is facing.
According to data from the XE foreign exchange website, the Chilean peso fell more than 6.45 % against the dollar in the last two months. Likewise, the Chilean currency has lost 27 % of its value during the last year.
Savings in BTC
Despite the difficult economic situation, some citizens decide to buy bitcoins as a way to save money. By purchasing these digital assets, users contribute to the increase in the number of transactions that take place in a certain period, which is the so-called trading volume.
According to the cryptocurrency market data website CoinLib, in the Chilean cryptocurrency exchange CryptoMarket has also increased the volume of cryptocurrency trading. This increase in the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies has been observed in recent weeks.
The daily trading volume in US dollars on CryptoMarket grew almost 270% compared to March 30th. Thus, the daily trading volume with Chilean pesos is around USD 281,000.
In this aspect, Bloomberg, the US financial advisory company, recently reported that the problems in Chile are now more acute, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
To try to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Chile had to apply a forced closure. Both the police and the army forces of Chile control the closure. Despite the difficulties that this measure could generate, Bloomberg explains that the plan is working.
“Thus far, there have been just 160 recorded deaths in a nation of 18 million. There were 464 new infections announced Wednesday, compared with a peak of 534 on April 16th, bringing the total to 11,296. Like everywhere, the true counts are probably higher”, said Bloomberg.
Besides, it seems that users are deciding to buy cryptocurrencies in the United States of America. This is a way to protect their money from the economic effects of the pandemic.
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, explained that, during the last week, there has been a spontaneous growth in the purchase of cryptocurrencies on the exchange platform. Many cryptocurrency purchases have been made with deposits of up to USD 1,200. This amount is equivalent to the subsidy provided by the US government.
All of this is a prove that Bitcoin continues to function, more than ever, as a way to save money in times of crisis.
By María Rodríguez
