Argentina’s President Calls Crypto a ‘Hard Currency’ that Can Fight Inflation

[lunar]

Sorry, initially I said Equador made bitcoin legal tender when I meant to say El Salvador. I then edited that, but noticed some others refering to Ecuador instead of El Salvador.

You said El Salvador. The Ecuador is mentioned because they use the USD as a national currency.

I wonder how bitcoin and crypto might be helpful now for Argentinia, either as legal tender, or just as something that people have available to put their wealth into.

Right now because of govt restrictions to buy dollars/open dollar accounts, many people use stablecoins like DAI or USDT instead. They buy them either directly for pesos, or buy bitcoins and convert them to the stablecoins.

I believe crypto might be useful to the unbanked, allowing them to transact easily and cheaply without a bank account.

Bank accounts are free and available to any person who has a DNI. Operating with crypto requires a steep learning curve.

Will this solve anything for Argentina?

Probably not. It's not going to happen anyway. AF is just trying to appeal to the younger audience.

 

[QuilmesSlo]

About the only use pro crypto talk could in theory achieve would be to lure some crypto fan boys down to Argentina (if you put the correct framework in place). But since Argentina cannot do that, it's just bloviating by Fernandez.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

Ecuador was powerless to deal with the pandemic? Despite not having anywhere near the infrastructure of Argentina, to date they have reported 31.870 deaths (population 17.000.000) and now have 25% of their population fully vaccinated. Certainly no worse than Argentina reporting 108.000 dead and 21% fully vaccinated. But yes, sovereignty solves everything?

You are missinformed. Take a look at what happened:

 

[Bajo_cero2]

Let's say Argentina has a supply of yuans, or soy, or beef, or gold, or anything of value, for that matter. Then it can go and sell/exchange them to USD. Problem solved.

This is simply not true.
You exchanged 18 billion usd in Yuan to who? The US? I don’t think so.

Central Bank renews currency swap deal with China for another three years

Argentina and China formally sign agreement to renew existing swap line worth 130 billion yuan (US$18.7 billion).

www.google.com.ar

 

[Bajo_cero2]

right away, you start by not even acknowledging what the real root issue is. argentina's problem is not lack of dollars. it is a complete absence of fiscal control and terrible decision making for decades.

now, this doesn't mean the USA is any better. the USA is spiraling downward too into a debt bubble so large that when it does collapse someday, it will be historic. one day, the dollar may not be the global powerhouse it is now. but that day isn't coming anytime soon, plus the USA has a relatively strong economy and can survive the printing for now. argentina cannot and has no such luxury.

By 1974 there was no debt.
The issue with inflation is related with external debt, this is why there is a lack of usd because the value of the peso is in relationship with how many usd the CB has.
During Medieval Age it was openly called tributary servitute.
The problem with external debt were 3 goverment that were diplomaticly close to the US: Videla, Menem and Macri. All of them took huge loans (80, 110 and 100 billion usd each) that were used for money flight because they also put an artificial low price for the usd plus they eliminated currency controls on money flight.
But for you the problem is money printing. Sorry, but I respectfully disagree.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

Sorry, initially I said Equador made bitcoin legal tender when I meant to say El Salvador. I then edited that, but noticed some others refering to Ecuador instead of El Salvador. Anyways, the president of Argentina seems to think that bitcoin might help solve inflation issues, though he’s not taking a hard line but having more of a thought it seems. The crypto and bitcoin supporters often seem to cite bitcoin’s limited supply as something that is helpful against inflation, and say that it’s something that people will go to in order to protect their wealth. For example, I heard people express unhappiness that the product of their hard work, their money, should be devalued by the government printing money, especially when it’s over printed. I wonder how bitcoin and crypto might be helpful now for Argentinia, either as legal tender, or just as something that people have available to put their wealth into. I believe crypto might be useful to the unbanked, allowing them to transact easily and cheaply without a bank account. But the topic the president of Argentina brought up is inflation, and I’m not sure how bitcoin can help with that in practice. Let’s assume that a large portion of Argentinians start transacting in bitcoin, or some other crypto, or even in a stable coin that is pegged to the USD or something else, or a crypto that’s pegged to gold for example. Will this solve anything for Argentina? Bitcoin is very volatile right now, so not sure how it might work as legal tender. But there are many other crypto options.

But you talk about bitcoin while the President was talking about Russian and China’s crypto currencies.

 

[lunar]

.

This is simply not true.
You exchanged 18 billion usd in Yuan to who? The US?

I know it may be a difficult concept to grasp after all these cepos.
But there is such thing as a Foreign Exchange Market.

But you talk about bitcoin while the President was talking about Russian and China’s crypto currencies.

There is no Russian cryptocurrency.

 

[jblaze5779]

Will this solve anything? If the government is in charge of the currency then no. If they adopt bitcoin or something that they can't control (which the won't) then maybe?

 

[antipodean]

You are missinformed. Take a look at what happened:

That happened a year ago, yes. Traumatic images for sure. But since then you can take a look at the stats for yourself. For a country without the same level of infrastructure as Argentina, they are not doing any worse in terms of deaths and vaccinations overall. If anything they seem to have avoided far more deaths than Argentina on a per capita basis. And that’s without a currency of their own.

Coronavirus Ecuador - información verificada de la llegada del COVID-19 al país

Todo lo que debes saber acerca del virus, mitos y verdades, los síntomas que se presentan, técnicas de prevención en un solo lugar, con información verificada acerca del CoronaVirus (COVID-19).

www.coronavirusecuador.com

Ecuador: Coronavirus Pandemic Country Profile

Ecuador: What has been the impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)?

ourworldindata.org

 

[Sequoia1321]

But you talk about bitcoin while the President was talking about Russian and China’s crypto currencies.

That article didn’t mention bitcoin, but other news sources were attributing what the president said to bitcoin, see below:

Argentina Open to Adopting Bitcoin, Says President Alberto Fernandez - Decrypt

"I don't want to go too far out on a limb [...] but there is no reason to say ‘no,'" Fernandez said on adopting Bitcoin in Argentina.

decrypt.co

“During an interview on Caja Negra, aired by Filo.news yesterday, Fernandez was asked if he would consider making use of a central bank digital currency, or perhaps even emulate El Salvador and adopt Bitcoin as legal lender. "I don't want to go too far out on a limb [...] but there is no reason to say ‘no,’” Fernandez said. “Perhaps that is a good path to take."

"They say the advantage is that the inflationary effect is largely nullified," he explained.”

Argentina President Fernandez Cautiously Supports Bitcoin - PYMNTS.com

Although skeptical, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez is cautiously putting his support behind bitcoin and isn’t ruling out a central bank digital currency.

www.pymnts.com

President of Argentina open to Bitcoin and a CBDC, but central bank says no

Despite the head of Argentina’s central bank pledging to crack down on cryptocurrency, the country’s president believes Bitcoin could offer a hedge against inflation.

cointelegraph.com