According to data from the main crypto exchange platforms in Russia, trading with Bitcoin has been increasing since January 2020.
In a recent study by the exchange company Cripotomoneds, in Russia, the recent Covid-19 outbreak, as well as the quarantine period, has caused bitcoin trading to increase in recent months.
The company published the study last June 4th. This study explained that, since March, businesses conducted through trading with bitcoins (BTC) have had a significant increase, highlighting that the blockade due to the pandemic could be the main cause.
According to the RBC media review, local representatives of cryptocurrency exchange houses and commercialization companies, such as Binance, EXMO, and Garantex, commented that the market has had a sustained growth in Russia since last March. These companies say that the number of users has also had the same volume of growth. The exchange houses admit that the use of trading tools has generated an increase in transactions with bitcoins.
About the increase in the number of active users on exchange platforms in Russia, Head of the representative office of Binance in the country, Gleb Kostarev, commented that, even, the growth of users doubled in April, if compared with the figures registered in December 2019.
Kostarev added that growth is increasing over the months and that it is the first time that the country reached these numbers. “It should be mentioned separately that the popularity of futures trading is growing among Russians. In April and May, the trade volumes of these instruments are greater than in March and five times that of January.”
In another sense, the founder and spokesman of Garantex, Sergey Mendelev, commented that the increase in the activity on crypto platforms “is not associated with people who withdraw money from deposits or receive payments from the budget.” For that reason, he clarified that it is about records of different activities.
However, experts conclude that the recent Covid-19 crisis could be the main trigger for the number of people in Russia using cryptocurrency trading tools. They also argue that some of the sanctions that Russia imposed could be a cause for this growth.
One expert of this team is Fedor Anaschenkov, who is an analyst at United Trading. The specialist believes that the quarantine has forced Russian citizens to seek quick and forceful solutions to help them solve some of the financial limitations that the pandemic has caused.
On the other hand Sergey Zhdanov, EXMO CEO, also gave his opinion and revealed figures that could reinforce his comment. According to his records, this activity grew between 15% and 20%. Besides, active users also had a 12% growth between March and May.
Although in Russia there is legal bewilderment regarding cryptocurrencies, this has not stopped the volume of users from increasing in recent months. Authorities in Russia have not yet established a legal framework to guide this activity. However, there is no prohibition on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country.
By María Rodríguez
