Peer-to-peer Bitcoin (BTC) trading has surged in Venezuela after shutting banks amid a nationwide quarantine to fight the spread of coronavirus

Peer-to-peer Bitcoin (BTC) trading has surged in Venezuela after shutting banks amid a nationwide quarantine to fight the spread of coronavirus.
On St Patrick's Day , Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro brought a country-wide quarantine to slow the spread of COVID-19. With only 33 cases of coronavirus confirmed thus 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 pack up indefinitely

Venezuela’s national banking industry has been halted “indefinitely” as a part of the sudden quarantine, sparking a rise in P2P cryptocurrency trading. After a 3 week skid in weekly volume, Localbitcoins trade activity between BTC and therefore the bolivar has rebounded back above $3.4 million for the past fortnight .

The economic ramifications of the coronavirus appear to be driving cryptocurrency adoption across the South American continent, with Localbitcoins volume jumping over 30% in Peru and increasing nearly 15% in Colombia over the past week. Both Peru and Colombia have closed their borders in recent days.
Coronavirus pandemic overshadows Petro initiatives

The COVID-19 threat appears to possess dampened Venezuelan efforts to force adoption of its oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro.

Maduro’s last major initiatives to drive Petro use appear to possess taken place in January, with the president announcing the launch of a Petro-powered casino from which the profits will purportedly fund health and education schemes . The casino was launched approximately one week after Maduro decreed that each one airline fuel sales for international flights be conducted using the Petro.

Despite Maduro’s efforts to stimulate its adoption, Venezuelans haven't warmed to the Petro. Localbitcoins listings have shown Venezuelans to be offloading the tokens at half their supposedly fixed value of $60.