LocalBitcoins Ban in Russia Brings Record Demand

According to the analytical service CoinDance, LocalBitcoins trading volumes in Russia have hit record highs.

Remarkably, the new ATH follows the recent LocalBitcoins ban by Roskomnadzor, the Russian media watchdog.

As the graph above shows, the news of the Finnish service blockade hasn’t affected the market with the trading volumes reaching RUR 242.34m ($3.71m). Moreover, these figures are on the rise for nine consecutive weeks, which is another evidence of Russians clearly fancying Bitcoin.

For the time being, it remains uncertain how the Bitcoin situation in Russia will evolve though. Conflicting messages from the Russian authorities every other week are making it difficult to plan ahead. The ban against LocalBitcoins is not too serious, though, as it can be bypassed with relative ease.

Using a VPN service or the Tor network will let users access any other banned web-site once again. The LocalBitcoins team has even posted instructions on their blog – in Russian – to make this process easier.

Earlier this year Russia’s ministry of finance has stated it would allow individuals to buy cryptocurrency if they intend to resell, exchange, or use it outside Russia. At the same time, the same proposal suggests mining would be regarded as currency issuance and banned as such.

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