A report has revealed that the total value of bitcoin trading among digital currency exchanges in Brazil has now surpassed that of gold spot trading on the Brazilian Securities, Commodities and Futures Exchange – the country’s securities market authority and regulator – during the first half of 2016.

Bitcoin is increasingly seen as a store of value ‘asset’ by everyday investors around the world. China is seen as the most obvious example, with over 90% of the global bitcoin trading volume now coming from the most populated country in the world. With Brazil, another growing economy is seemingly following suit, with an increasing appetite for the cryptocurrency.

A report by non-profit org and publication FEE, citing Brazilian bitcoin information resource BitValor has revealed that bitcoin trading among Brazilian cryptocurrency exchanges scaled over R$ 164 million (~US$47 million). In that period, gold spot contracts (specifically for 250g and 10g equivalent bars) on the Securities, Commodities, and Futures Exchange, reached round R$153 million (~US$44 mi). Bitcoin trading is surpassing that of gold in Brazil, by nearly 7 percent.

Furthermore, the bitcoin trading volume from January 2016 up to June 2016 has already exceeded 2015’s entire trading volume of the most widely known and popular cryptocurrency, by 45%. The trading volume during the first half of 2016 has even exceeded those recorded during first six months of the past three years, in total.

The remarkable increase in trading and awareness of bitcoin further underlines its status it enjoys as a safe haven with investors.

The cryptocurrency has increased by nearly 50% of its value since the turn of the year and observers have pointed to a number of factors behind the surge in value. Two commonly touted reasons: the increased demand from buyers in China and; the Brexit vote, show similarities. A weakening, stagnating economy and a gloomy economic forecast and outlook, leading to investors flocking to bitcoin.

In the global market, numbers from the London bullion market show anywhere between $150 billion to $240 billion in OTC gold market trades, compared to an estimated $142 million in bitcoin traded over the past 24 hours.

While the cryptocurrency is still at a nascent stage, some investment houses and experts are already turning from gold to bitcoin as a store of wealth. Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of digital asset exchange Gemini recently opined that bitcoin was “better at being gold, than gold.”

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