LocalBitcoins data shows that the weekly trading volume in Chile’s fiat currency recently touched a new all-time high. Cryptocurrency market data platform CoinDance shows that LocalBitcoins volume in Chile reached a new record of over 330 million Chilean pesos in the week ending on April 4. Chile LocalBitcoins volume in Chilean Pesos. Source: CoinDance It is worth noting that these figures are also influenced by the depreciation of the Chilean peso. According to data from foreign exchange website XE, the currency fell by over 6.45% against the dollar in the last two months alone — and has lost a whopping …

Having just recently announced plans to close shop, Bitcoin (BTC) payments facilitator Purse.io says it is now reconsidering due to “an incredible outpouring of support from the community.” The veteran business — which offered Amazon shoppers a handy workaround and discount for paying with Bitcoin — had initially said it would be deactivating its "shop and earn" feature today, April 23, and ultimately cease all operations by late June. In its recent update, Purse says that since announcing its intentions to shut down, the overwhelming response from the community has caused the team “to reconsider our decision”: “Several parties — …

Peer-to-peer, or P2P, trading platform, Oobit, has launched its purportedly SkyScanner-styled Bitcoin (BTC) price aggregator, Oobit Hunter. Oobit has also launched ‘Pass’ — “a single KYC passport for use on multiple trading platforms” that allows traders to access multiple exchanges simultaneously. Coinbase partners with crypto liquidity aggregator Oobit’s Hunter is described as “an AI-driven liquidity aggregator” that searches multiple exchanges to identify the best available prices for cryptocurrencies. The firm has partnered with Coinbase to launch Hunter, with Coinbase providing custody and escrow services to users. Oobit hopes to target crypto users of all levels, claiming that Hunter can both …

Bitcoin SV powered social media platform Twetch has launched a feature to streamline peer-to-peer (P2P) payments. Twetch is a Twitter-like social media platform where users must make micropayments in order to post and engage with content on the platform. Content creators are directly paid for their activity through a revenue sharing system based on likes and shares. The platform is currently in private beta. Command-line style payments feature Tweet has rolled out the ability for users to send BSV to each other by entering the command-line ‘/pay’, a user’s tag, and the dollar value of the transfer into the app. …

Peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency marketplace Paxful announced the introduction of support for trade between gold and Bitcoin (BTC) on the platform on April 7. With the announcement, Paxful now facilitates physical trading in 16 different countries. Cointelegraph spoke to Paxful CEO and Founder Ray Youssef, who attributed the decision to support gold to “surprisingly high” customer demand. When a trade is entered, the Bitcoin will remain in Paxful’s escrow until the physical delivery of the gold is confirmed. Transactions must be completed within 21 days of trade being opened on the platform. Paxful will not physically track or touch the gold …

India’s cryptocurrency ecosystem has been in limbo since the country’s central bank barred banks from dealing with cryptocurrency exchanges in 2018. As of March 4, the Supreme Court of India has done away with those restrictions on crypto, allowing the second-most populous country — and the most populous democracy — a path to digital-currency freedom. The lifting of the ban by the Supreme Court will open new opportunities for India in terms of investments, the economy and the market as a whole. After the Reserve Bank of India restricted financial institutions from dealing with cryptocurrency, trade volumes fell significantly overnight. …

Peer-to-peer exchange Paxful will add security to its operation through a partnership with blockchain analysis outfit Chainalysis. Through a new partnership, Paxful will harness specific technologies from Chainalysis. “Paxful uses the Chainalysis Reactor to conduct deep investigations and the Chainalysis KYT to monitor transactions for any illicit behavior,” Youssef said, referring to the firm’s Know Your Transaction solution — a similar acronym to Know Your Customer, or KYC, regulations. Youssef added: “Through working with Paxful, Chainalysis is evolving its policy and will evaluate P2P exchanges on a case-by-case basis before labeling them as risky, just as it does for other …

Peer-to-peer Bitcoin (BTC) trading has surged in Venezuela after shutting banks amid a nationwide quarantine to fight the spread of coronavirus. On March 17, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro brought a country-wide quarantine to slow the spread of COVID-19. With only 33 cases of coronavirus confirmed so far, the administration hopes that the emergency measures will prevent its health system from becoming overwhelmed by a rapid increase in infections. Venezuela’s banking sector shut down indefinitely Venezuela’s national banking system has been halted “indefinitely” as part of the sudden quarantine, sparking an increase in P2P cryptocurrency trading. After a three week skid …

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has rolled out peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading with five new Latin American fiat currencies. Users of the Binance P2P trading platform can now buy and sell cryptocurrency directly with Brazilian real (BRL), Argentine peso (ARS), Colombian peso (COP), Mexican peso (MXN) and Peruvian sol (PEN). Supported cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT), Binance Coin (BNB) and Binance USD (BUSD). The platform has zero transaction fees and uses an escrow service to protect user funds. Latin American region active in crypto trading Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao — also known as CZ — said that Latin America …

At a time when technology can be used as both a mechanism for privacy intrusions and a tool for protecting privacy, the prescient sentiment of cypherpunks in the 1990s of cryptography as the last defense against a digital surveillance dystopia rings truer than ever. And one of the most potent instruments for defending digital privacy has recently gained significant momentum thanks to the advent of cryptocurrencies. An iteration of zero-knowledge proofs, trustless zero-knowledge proof systems that are also referred to as zk-SNARKs are a powerful cryptographic primitive that can sever any tractable piece of data between two parties over a …

As part of ongoing fiat-to-crypto expansion, major cryptocurrency Binance is adding support for the Nigerian Naira (NGN) on its peer-to-peer (P2P) platform. Binance P2P, a consumer-to-consumer business arm of Binance exchange, is rolling out support for the first African fiat currency on its platform. According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Binance P2P users can trade major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) using NGN with zero transaction fees starting from March 4. Users in Nigeria can now post trade ads via P2P Merchants The NGN integration also allows users in Nigeria to directly purchase and sell cryptos like Bitcoin, Ether …

Popular peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading exchange LocalBitcoins saw a major decline in Bitcoin (BTC) trading volumes amid apparent user uncertainty. According to data from Bitcoin (BTC) statistics website Coin Dance, global Bitcoin trading volumes on LocalBitcoins exchange have touched a seven-year low during the week ending on Feb. 22. BTC trading volumes drop from 13K bitcoins in February 2019 to about 3K in 2020 During the weekly period, LocalBitcoins traded just 3,144 bitcoins, or around $28 million at press time, which is the lowest weekly trading amount since May 2013. The new historical low of Bitcoin trading volumes on LocalBitcoins …