<p>Hong Kong has seen a sharp increase in bitcoin (BTC) volumes in recent weeks as the city reels from protests and unrest.</p> <p>Peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange LocalBitcoins recorded its third-highest weekly BTC volume at $1.42 million or 172.8 BTC in the last week.</p> <p><img class="size-medium wp-image-41748 aligncenter" src="https://www.tbstat.com/wp/uploads/2019/10/image-16-746x450.png" alt="" width="746" height="450" /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Source: </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">LocalBitcoins, The Block</span><br /> <br /> The highest weekly BTC volume on LocalBitcoins was recorded in Dec. 2017 at $1.53 million, followed by $1.51 million in Jan. 2018.</p> <p>Hong Kong has been witnessing the “<a href="https://time.com/5690681/hong-kong-crisis-unrest-protests/">worst unrest</a> in more than 50 years” amid worsening political tensions. Protestors have been rallying <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9277040/hong-kong-protests-happening-riots/">since June</a> when the general public started opposing a bill that could have allowed the extradition of those convicted of crimes to mainland China and Taiwan. The bill has been withdrawn, but the protests are still ongoing.</p>