Bisq volumes reach all time highs as Monero demand spikes

Bisq, a decentralized exchange, surpassed $3.5M in monthly volumes in October and recorded its most successful month since the project's inception in April 2016. Bisq's volumes are projected to approach $5M in October.

Decentralized exchanges, which allow buyers and sellers to find each other peer-to-peer, have been popping up at a fast clip over the last year, but have failed to attract significant turn-over compared to centralized exchanges. By way of comparison, Bitfinex, a centralized exchange, sees more than $123M worth of crypto trade on its venue a day. Still, volumes on centralized exchanges have greatly depreciated during the bear market. Diar recently reported that in the third quarter of 2018, Coinbase’s USD volumes hit a 1-year low.

According to The Block's findings, 89% of all volumes on Bisq involved Monero in the last three months. In the previous 2 years of Bisq's existence, only 17% of volumes involved Monero. The increase in Monero's volumes correlates with the heightened regulatory pressure that resulted in Shapeshift and Changelly having to KYC its customers.