With rising tension between the US and Iran, it was perceived that Irani citizens were buying Bitcoin to hedge against any uncertain conditions. However, data from exchanges such as LocalBitcoins states otherwise.
Is Iran buying Bitcoin?
The tensions between the US and Iran are not decreasing but rather escalating, with the most recent case being the death of General Qassem Soleimani. The logical conclusion can be made that in the face of this incident, it is possible to consider Iran buying Bitcoin.
Qassem was killed in a drone strike that appeared to be conducted by the US. Following the news of the attack, the price of Bitcoin surged, making people believe that Irani citizens were buying the asset as a safe haven investment.
However, this theory for the surge of price was proved wrong by taking trade volume data from various exchanges, including LocalBitcoins. The data suggested that Bitcoin was not gaining attraction; rather, citizens’ interest in Bitcoin was declining steadily.
If the price surge was caused by Iran, the trade volume would have observed a spike on LocalBitcoins, the world’s largest peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange. However, the Bitcoin trading volume was just over 700 dollars across the week, with no signs of Iran buying Bitcoin.
Data suggests that interest in the asset has been decreasing since the bull run during summer 2019. People are not investing in the asset as a safe haven; in fact, data suggests they never were. People that invested in the asset seem to be selling off the asset indicating their only intention was to speculate the markets.
Iran buying Bitcoin a myth as gold and oil pump instead
On the other hand, people are investing in traditional safe-haven goods such as gold and crude oil that have seen a pump n the region. This proves that Bitcoin is still far from reaching mainstream adoption and is yet to create a position as a safe haven asset.
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