The eight fastest growing Bitcoin markets

Bitcoin trading volumes surged in most countries and regions in 2016, however, in some markets they grew much faster than others.

Bitcoin.com looked at the trading volume of dozens of Bitcoin exchanges and identified the eight markets with the largest growth in Bitcoin trading volume over the past year.

Japan

The Bitcoin trading volume in Japan is currently second only to China, ranking second in the world. Since the Japanese exchange Bitflyer began to implement a zero transaction fee strategy in May this year, the trading volume of Japanese yen against Bitcoin has quickly exceeded the trading volume of US dollars against Bitcoin. According to data provided by Bravenewcoin, Bitflyer exchange currently accounts for more than 50% of the trading share of the Japanese Bitcoin market. Its daily trading volume has surged from the previous 1845 BTC to a maximum of 97,815 BTC , an increase of 5300%.

Other Japanese Bitcoin exchanges also saw a significant increase in trading volume, such as Japan Technology Bureau's Zaif exchange, which also recorded a 514% increase.

Venezuela

As Venezuela faces greater money supply issues, demand for bitcoin is starting to rise. Surbitcoin is currently the most popular exchange in the region, but it does not release historical trading data.

However, we can still clearly see that the volume of Localbitcoins transactions in Venezuela has shown a reliable growth. In the first week of the year, the local Localbitcoins transaction volume was only 22 BTC . In October this year, the peak reached 373 BTC. Overall, the Bitcoin transaction volume in the region has increased by more than 913% this year.

Indonesia

Since the Bitcoin block reward "halving" event in June this year, the trading volume of Indonesian rupiah against Bitcoin has soared significantly, and the region's Bitcoin trading volume currently ranks fifth in the world.

The largest exchange in the region is Quoine, a Singapore-based exchange that accounts for about 90% of Bitcoin trading volume. The exchange started trading in March this year, and its trading volume soared to 51500 BTC in June. As of press time, Quoine's trading volume is 3,344 BTC.

South Korea

South Korea is currently the sixth largest Bitcoin trading market in the world, with Koreans able to buy Bitcoin from a large number of convenience stores. These networks use the Korbit trading service, which currently accounts for 70% of the Bitcoin trading volume in the South Korean market. At the beginning of this year, Korbit's daily Bitcoin trading volume was only 583 BTC. As of press time, Korbit's daily trading volume has risen to 3,168 BTC, a 443% increase.

Colombia

As a neighbor of Venezuela, Localbitcoins in Colombia is beginning to show signs of life. At the beginning of this year, the weekly Bitcoin trading volume in the region was only 26 BTC , but recently it reached 122 BTC , an increase of about 370% .

Malaysia

The Malaysian Bitcoin market has been growing rapidly recently, with the local Localbitcoins weekly trading volume increasing from 150 BTC to 542 BTC . 261％ growth rate seems very slow, which may be related to the entry of new Bitcoin exchange Xbit Asia into the region this year.

Russia

Russia is currently the seventh largest Bitcoin trading market in the world, with almost half of the region’s Bitcoin trading taking place on localbitcoins. This year, the region’s weekly Localbitcoins volume has increased from 2,705 BTC to 5,983 BTC. The region’s Bitcoin trading volume has surged due to regulatory uncertainty in the Russian market and the ban on Localbitcoins.

Australia

There are currently several exchanges that allow customers to trade Bitcoin in Australian dollars. However, in January this year, after igot left the Australian market, the region's daily Bitcoin trading volume dropped from 3,850 BTC to 500 BTC . In April, an exchange called ACX was launched and quickly became the largest exchange in the region. Currently, ACX's weekly trading volume has exceeded 12,000 BTC.

Which markets do you think will explode in 2017? Feel free to share your views.