Digital asset exchange Binance has introduced peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency trading options which support five major Latin American fiat currencies.
Traders that use Binance’s P2P exchange will be able to purchase and sell digital currencies directly with the Argentine peso (ARS), Brazilian real (BRL), Colombian peso (COP), Mexican peso (MXN), and the Peruvian sol (PEN).
Binance’s management noted that the P2P trading platform will support major digital assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), the exchange’s native token Binance Coin (BNB), its stablecoin, Binance USD (BUSD), and Tether (USDT), the world’s largest stablecoin by market cap.
Binance’s P2P trading platform will not charge transaction fees and provides an escrow service in order to protect traders’ assets.
Changpeng Zhao, CEO at Binance, noted that Latin America is among the world’s most active cryptocurrency trading regions, and that P2P trading has become increasingly popular in the area.
Zhao remarked:
“Amidst the current global economic uncertainty, cryptocurrency is still a favorable asset with great potential use despite its price volatility. For the massive unbanked population in Latin America, cryptocurrency is a more promising financial asset, and we are glad to directly provide the financial access and service for them.”
Earlier this month, Nigeria’s national currency, the naira (NGN), notably became the first fiat currency in Africa to begin trading on Binance’s peer to peer exchange. Binance says it is planning to launch its P2P trading platform in several other countries.
The exchange’s P2P plaform began supporting trading with the Vietnamese dong (VND) in January 2020, and also the Chinese yuan (CNY) in October of last year.
As Binance rolls out new P2P trading options, another major P2P crypto exchange, LocalBitcoins, experienced a significant drop in Bitcoin trading volumes (according to data from Coin Dance).
For the week that ended on February 22, 2020, LocalBitcoins recorded a seven-year low in overall Bitcoin trading volumes. The popular exchange only handled 3,144 BTC worth of trades (appr. #28 million), which is notably its lowest trading volume for one week since May 2013.
