Even though the cryptocurrency markets are reeling right now, overall demand for Bitcoin is not slowing down in the slightest. According to LocalBitcoins, the demand for Bitcoin is spiking in Canada. That in itself is rather interesting, as the country has been pretty silent on the cryptocurrency front these past few years.
Canada Shows a Healthy Appetite for Bitcoin
Looking at the LocalBitcoins chart for Canada these past few years, one can see that the demand has never been all that great. In fact, one can argue that the demand for BTC was pretty flat until late 2017. At that time, the global demand for Bitcoin was peeking, mainly because of the price quickly soaring to new heights.
As one would expect, the LocalBitcoins volume in this country tapered off in early 2018. With the markets losing value in quick succession, it’s normal that there would be far less demand for cryptocurrency. At the same time, this lower market value creates a lot of new buy opportunities for investors and speculators.
It seems there has been a renewed interest in LocalBitcoins over the past three to four weeks. With the weekly traded Bitcoin volume on the rise over this period, things look rather promising. Last week, however, the volume jumped by an astonishing CA$2.5 million for no apparent reason. That increase comes on the heels of another CA$3.4 million increase in the weeks prior.
The big question is why demand is soaring all of a sudden. Even though the lower Bitcoin price makes this investment vehicle a lot more appealing as of right now, one wouldn’t necessarily expect consumers to use LocalBitcoins for this purpose. Canada is home to a fair few cryptocurrency exchanges, although the ecosystem could certainly use a lot more competition in the near future.
Additionally, there is an increasing interest on the part of Bitcoin mining firms looking to set up shop in Canada. The country has a fair amount of renewable energy and empty data centers looking for new purposes. As such, it seems the concept of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is gaining traction in the country in various ways. At the same time, Canada still lacks clear regulatory guidelines when it comes to virtual currencies.
Whether or not the demand for Bitcoin will remain this high in Canada remains to be seen. This may very well be a temporary trend, rather than the new normal. Even so, it goes to show that LocalBitcoins is still quite popular, as peer-to-peer trading is a preferable manner of buying and selling Bitcoin these days.
