Is the bear market officially over? LocalBitcoins Bitcoin-USD trading volume surges 4 times to a record high

The biggest increase in local bitcoin trading volume in the United States was seen on LocalBitcoins over the past week, with over $31.5 million worth of bitcoin traded in USD on the platform, as bitcoin prices look set to test the $4,000 resistance level.

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LocalBitcoins’ USD trading volume hits all-time high

Data from Coin Dance shows that U.S. dollar trading volume on popular over-the-counter bitcoin trading platform LocalBitcoins has reached an all-time high.

In the week ending February 16, LocalBitcoins’ USD trading volume exceeded $31.5 million, nearly four times the volume of the previous week ($8.4 million).

LocalBitcoins is a peer-to-peer (P2P) platform that allows users to create and accept private purchases and sales of Bitcoin with fiat currency.

Bitcoinist reported that Indonesia also saw a surge in Bitcoin trading volume on the platform.

Bitcoin price approaches $4,000

As LocalBitcoins saw record volumes of Bitcoin-to-USD trading, the cryptocurrency’s price also saw a notable surge.

As of press time, according to QKL123 market data, Bitcoin is currently trading at US$3,976.6, up 6.63% in 24 hours.

As previously reported, if the Bitcoin price manages to break through the $4,000 mark, it will show an Adam and Eve bottom (lower high low), which could lead to a further surge in the coin’s price to $5,000.

Luke Martin, a popular cryptocurrency analyst on Twitter, discussed Bitcoin’s upward move earlier today, noting that he currently expects the next significant resistance level for Bitcoin to be $4,120.

“The next daily resistance level for BTC that I’m targeting is the 4120 area. This was previously the area range resistance that we traded in for most of Dec 2018 – Jan 2019.”

Sharing the same bullish outlook as Martin, Heather Miller, another popular cryptocurrency analyst, noted that Bitcoin’s ability to stay above $3,900 could eventually allow the cryptocurrency to “fly.”

It’s worth noting that Bitcoin wasn’t the only cryptocurrency to perform well over the weekend. In fact, the entire market saw significant growth.

Data from CoinMarketetiCap shows that the market's total market value has increased by $10 billion, or about 9%, over the past few days.

Ethereum (ETH) has also made notable progress in leading the current cryptocurrency rally. This has allowed it to once again reclaim its position as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, replacing Ripple (XRP).

Is the bear market coming to an end?

Although Bitcoin’s current gains are relatively modest and it still has a long way to go before it reclaims its all-time highs, its ability to hold the sub-$3,000 area as strong support is certainly positive from a technical perspective.

Mayne, another popular analyst, talked about the potential for the market to climb from here in a recent tweet, importantly noting that technical biases can change quickly.

“We’ve had some bullish moves in the past two weeks for ETH, BTC and other altcoins… Is the bear market over? Maybe, the fact is we’re going up. Traders have to see what the PA is and be able to change bias quickly. If you’re holding a bearish view, you’re missing out.”

If the market continues to climb higher in the week ahead, traders and investors may take a deeper look to reconsider whether the low $3,000s are truly a long-term bottom.