The last 24 hours have not been great for Argentina.
First - despite endless jawboning about The IMF bailout and how it will secure the nation's future and enable reforms, the currency collapsed to a new record low on Friday...
Second - the central bank decided to step in with their newly minted IMF funds and blew over a billion dollars to buy pesos, managing a very modest bounce (but ARS still closed down 3% on the day)
Third - IMF officials spoke with Argentina's union leaders, warning of the social impact of the ongoing disruptions.
IMF spokesman Raphael Anspach confirmed Werner and Cardarelli’s participation in the call, which “reiterated the main elements of the IMF support to the government’s economic plans, including the measures aimed at supporting the most vulnerable in Argentine society.”
And union officials told the media that The IMF was not worried about the ongoing collapse:
"They are betting on a virtuous behavior by private investors, with the economy falling in the third and fourth quarters of 2018, but rebounding 1.5% in the first quarter of 2019"
"They were not worried about the flight of capital"
Fourth, and finally, and perhaps worst of all - Argentina is now out of The World Cup
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-30/argentina-blew-billion-dollars-rescue-peso-friday-and-failed-and-now-theyre-outYet another unfortunate fiat currency appears headed the way of venezuela's bolivar. Not certain if we'll see the "blame diminishing value of oil for diminishing value of currency" angle in this instance. All over the world it seems as if fiat currency devaluation and hyperinflation are becoming more tangible and credible threats. Meanwhile the mainstream media stays silent and whispers nothing.
Sadly these negative circumstances make it likely argentina will embrace crypto currencies similar to how venezuela has embraced crypto in the face of its hyperinflationg fiat currency.
Some argentine banks currently utilize bitcoin for cross border payments:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/argentinian-bank-now-using-bitcoin-for-cross-border-transactionsWith fiat currencies performing poorly in recent times, perhaps we have one of the best indications for why bitcoin is not a bubble and why we could still see crypto hit all time highs before 2018 ends.