Bitcoin trading volumes on peer-to-peer trading platform LocalBitcoins in Venezuela and Argentina have touched on new all-time highs.

United Nations Must Embrace Blockchain: UN Secretary-General

Bitcoin (BTC) weekly trading volumes on peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platform LocalBitcoins in Venezuela and Argentina have hit new all-time highs in their respective national currencies.

Cryptocurrency data website CoinDance shows that LocalBitcoins trading volume in

local fiat currency in Argentina and Venezuela have hit new record highs.

According to the website’s data, the week ending on Dec. 21 saw over 32.6 million Argentine pesos (equivalent to about $544,905) traded on the platform, or 34% more than the record registered two weeks before.

LocalBitcoins weekly trading volume in Argentina in Argentine pesos | Coindance

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In Venezuela, on the other hand, over 248 billion bolivars (about $24.8 million) were traded on LocalBitcoins during the same week, nearly 15.6% more than the record volume registered during the previous week.

LocalBitcoins weekly trading volume in Venezuela in bolivars | Coindance

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Bitcoin used to escape central bank policy

As Cointelegraph reported in early November, P2P trading volumes in Venezuela have started setting records after measures taken by the local central bank to curb Bitcoin inflows. Specifically, the regulator decided to ban Argentines from buying BTC with credit cards after also banning buying more than $200 per month.

The capital control measures came after in mid-September the bank announcedthe intention to increase the peso’s monetary base by 2.5% per month over the following two
months.

Venezuelan citizens, on the other hand, apparently use Bitcoin to escape the extreme

inflation of the bolivar. The increasing volume may also be spurred by late-September reports that the local central bank that it is exploring the possibilities of holding Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) in its coffers.

United Nations (UN) secretary-general António Guterres said the organization must embrace blockchain technology. According to a Dec. 28 Forbes report, Guterres believes that blockchain should be among the technologies used by the UN.

“For the United Nations to deliver better on our mandate in the digital age, we need to embrace technologies like blockchain that can help accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.

This is not the first time that Guterres spoke highly of the potential of blockchain technology. As Cointelegraph reported in July last year, at the time he created a “High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation,” which explicitly put blockchain technology on the agenda.

In September 2018, he also spoke of how trust in national institutions, among states and in a rule-based global order has declined and how technologies, particularly blockchain, can help mitigate the issue. Still, he spoke less positively about cryptocurrencies:

“Organized criminal networks lurk on the dark web, profiting from encryption and near-anonymous cryptocurrency payments to traffic in people and illegal goods.”

Similarly, in late August, chief of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Global

Cybercrime Program Neil Wals warned that crypto makes combating money laundering significantly harder.

United Nations and blockchain

Since Guterres created the digital cooperation program, blockchain use on the United Nation’s part has seen significant growth. As Cointelegraph recently reported, the UN launched a blockchain tool aiming to prevent the exploitation of migrant workers in Hong Kong with a blockchain financial services firm earlier this month.

According to July reports, the UN is also working on blockchain solutions for sustainable urban development in Afghanistan.

Lastly, in April the president of the United Nations’ specialized agency for aviation has said that blockchain technology could offer tremendous benefits across aviation systems

globally.