Is Argentina the new crypto-heaven?
An interesting article (in Italian) on Investire Oggi of November 23, by Giuseppe Timpone, in which the profile of the newly elected President of Argentina Milei is traced in terms of Bitcoin and crypto.
In essence, the thesis is that, while the dollarization of the economy, let us remember, was disastrous, with inflation at 142% per year is a very complicated thing, opening up to cryptocurrencies in general, and Bitcoin in particular, is more feasible in practice.
Dollarization first of all requires the availability of dollars (a material that is in short supply in Argentina, as well as someone willing to lend them), the loss of control of the currency (which in Argentina can only be a good thing given the precedents) and of monetary policy (government of interest rates, which obviously the Federal Reserve does by looking at the USA and not at others).
Of course for anyone who has been to Bueno Aires, the “cambio (change), cambio , cambio …” of the Peso/USD$ exchange dealers in black (more than in black, in broad daylight..) in the central calle Florida, obsessive and omnipresent litany that is difficult to forget. Dollarization, at least of savings in Argentina, for those who can afford it, has already been in place for years.
Opening up to cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, is easier and at no cost.
It is enough to liberalize its use, even without making it a legal tender as in Bukele’s El Salvador. In practice, if two people want to make a contract in Bitcoin Ether, or XRP they just do it. All in line with man’s libertarian and liberal thinking, with regard to minimal State intervention in people’s lives.
Of course, as long as it’s a minor country like El Salvador, it’s taken as little more than banana republic folklore. If, however, the use of cryptocurrencies passes to a large country, moreover the most European of the South American ones, the situation changes radically.
We will see. Because even there, or rather there even more than here, electoral promises are one thing, the reality of what is feasible is quite another. And if so we will see the impact on the market.
The related Generative Artificial Intelligence question is posted in the dedicated gallery: Will Argentina make Bitcoin a legal tender?