What about not even trying to move cash across the border?
http://bitcoinmagazine.com/beef-and-bitcoin/
Topic: Argentina is not going Bitcoin - page 2. (Read 4090 times)
There is still a government crackdown on leaking any money out of the country.
what about physically carrying cash over the border. not smuggling or anything just staying within the legal limits. people who lived near the boarders could make a daily trip to carry what ever was within the legal amount physically in their wallets across the border. they could then buy bitcoins and bring the bitcoins back across. of course they would arbitrage for their effort.
There is still a government crackdown on leaking any money out of the country. I looked around and found a few ways through it, but they are high fee. You can use Rapipago and other payment gateways to accept money from Argentinians, convert it to USD/another currency, and then sell them bitcoins. It's like 5-12% fees though sometimes more, but better than smuggling cash over the border.
Argentinians can get an Okpay account, make a fake website that sells a service, and drop in a payment gateway on it that settles to your USD Okpay account. Now spend your own money on the gateway through your fake website which is dumped into Okpay, then go on btc-e (i think they still accept Okpay) and buy bitcoins. I just p2p buy on IRC with okpay and use exchanges as little as possible.
Or send wires from Okpay to other exchanges like Bitstamp or something. I successfully did this with an Argencard gateway (with close friends not letting other people use it cuz cards can be frauded) and now whenever they want coins they just buy it online with their credit card and the stupid government blockade is bypassed. I also tried a payment gateway that uses Inpay, which allows Argentinian bank transfers. It was high fees but worked as advertised, just most people don't keep any money in their bank (from what I was told) so they manually load Argencards and prefer that. This will never work on a large scale public basis because of fraud but you can do this yourself easily and for friends.
Right now it's virtually impossible to get legal US dollars or other currency inside Argentina, so they take a boat to Colonia Uruguay, withdraw all their money in USD through ATMs, and then smuggle it back or get an account there. Not everybody can do this every payday so bitcoins and even just Okpay USD is better than 25% inflation per year of the national currency, rendering all your savings worthless paper
Argentinians can get an Okpay account, make a fake website that sells a service, and drop in a payment gateway on it that settles to your USD Okpay account. Now spend your own money on the gateway through your fake website which is dumped into Okpay, then go on btc-e (i think they still accept Okpay) and buy bitcoins. I just p2p buy on IRC with okpay and use exchanges as little as possible.
Or send wires from Okpay to other exchanges like Bitstamp or something. I successfully did this with an Argencard gateway (with close friends not letting other people use it cuz cards can be frauded) and now whenever they want coins they just buy it online with their credit card and the stupid government blockade is bypassed. I also tried a payment gateway that uses Inpay, which allows Argentinian bank transfers. It was high fees but worked as advertised, just most people don't keep any money in their bank (from what I was told) so they manually load Argencards and prefer that. This will never work on a large scale public basis because of fraud but you can do this yourself easily and for friends.
Right now it's virtually impossible to get legal US dollars or other currency inside Argentina, so they take a boat to Colonia Uruguay, withdraw all their money in USD through ATMs, and then smuggle it back or get an account there. Not everybody can do this every payday so bitcoins and even just Okpay USD is better than 25% inflation per year of the national currency, rendering all your savings worthless paper
I don't agree with this. The situation is changing rapidly from what it used to be. The Bitcoin innovators have come from the Western countries almost exclusively, and most enterpreneurs (like me) are providing services over here. That's how it used to be, but now it is different.
I'm seeing enterpreneurs emerge that are actually out there in the countries that could benefit from Bitcoin the most. Things are happening there. A lot of things. China, Kenya, Argentina, Brazil, even Iran, things are happening. Finally. There was simply no one there to spread the word before now, that has quite clearly changed. There was a Bitcoin meetup in Buenos Aires that had 180 people attending, it's quite a drastic change.
Since Bitcoin is growing in Western countries as well, it will probably take a year or two for the others to properly catch up. The service infrastructure and entrepreneurial effort is only getting started, while over here it has developed for a few years already. Just give it time and things will happen big time in countries like Argentina.
I'm seeing enterpreneurs emerge that are actually out there in the countries that could benefit from Bitcoin the most. Things are happening there. A lot of things. China, Kenya, Argentina, Brazil, even Iran, things are happening. Finally. There was simply no one there to spread the word before now, that has quite clearly changed. There was a Bitcoin meetup in Buenos Aires that had 180 people attending, it's quite a drastic change.
Since Bitcoin is growing in Western countries as well, it will probably take a year or two for the others to properly catch up. The service infrastructure and entrepreneurial effort is only getting started, while over here it has developed for a few years already. Just give it time and things will happen big time in countries like Argentina.
+1
Argentina is our fourth largest source of traffic. Currently sitting behind North America, Canada and the UK.
North America?
Just join us already 
Argentina is our fourth largest source of traffic. Currently sitting behind North America, Canada and the UK.
I´m from and live in Argentina.
BTC grow in last year or year and half.
Before that point, don´t exist.
We can´t make big transactions, because be can´t mine enough because equipment is costfull and tooooo far away.
Check last time client dowload or transaction in last months.
Oh, i forgot something.
There is a tradition here. Many (maybe too much) transactions (by bank, BTC or whatever) are make from outside Argentina.
That´s because we always are trying to keep our saves in differents places... to save it from seizes or whatever.
The best thing i cuold suggest you is come here and check it.
BTC grow in last year or year and half.
Before that point, don´t exist.
We can´t make big transactions, because be can´t mine enough because equipment is costfull and tooooo far away.
Check last time client dowload or transaction in last months.
Oh, i forgot something.
There is a tradition here. Many (maybe too much) transactions (by bank, BTC or whatever) are make from outside Argentina.
That´s because we always are trying to keep our saves in differents places... to save it from seizes or whatever.
The best thing i cuold suggest you is come here and check it.
The second wave coming in will be the Chinese and they will swarm the Bitcoin economy just as they had done for the production facilities around the world.
And they could just acquire an exchange or two
Hong Kong Exchanges' Bid For LME Will Give China More Power In Global Commodity Trading
http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2012/06/19/how-china-is-covertly-taking-control-of-the-global-gold-market/
The second wave coming in will be the Chinese and they will swarm the Bitcoin economy just as they had done for the production facilities around the world.
Numbers don't lie. You just had it from the horses mouth.
Sure eventually all the world will be Bitcoin land, but so far Argentina is not its capitol or even close. I hope this changes of course.
Sure eventually all the world will be Bitcoin land, but so far Argentina is not its capitol or even close. I hope this changes of course.
but progress nonetheless
Numbers don't lie. You just had it from the horses mouth.
Sure eventually all the world will be Bitcoin land, but so far Argentina is not its capitol or even close. I hope this changes of course.
Sure eventually all the world will be Bitcoin land, but so far Argentina is not its capitol or even close. I hope this changes of course.
Hi, I'm in Argentina and as far as I know, it is in the Western hemisphere guys...
Now, back on track, I think we're seeing lots more people interested in bitcoin, some start buying a few mbtc as a novelty, or get a block erupter since it's a small cool thing to have.
There are some traders, and I see some tourists that buy pesos with btc via localbitcoins but I wouldn't say it's being adopted. It's really far from that.
Lately some news stories mentioned bitcoin which is remarkable, and there are a few local groups promoting meetups and discussion forums as well.
Our local currency (ARS, not argentum / ARG) is in a constant down trend, so many could have a use for bitcoin or whatever crypto currency that is less volatile than our fiat if such thing gains traction.
Now, back on track, I think we're seeing lots more people interested in bitcoin, some start buying a few mbtc as a novelty, or get a block erupter since it's a small cool thing to have.
There are some traders, and I see some tourists that buy pesos with btc via localbitcoins but I wouldn't say it's being adopted. It's really far from that.
Lately some news stories mentioned bitcoin which is remarkable, and there are a few local groups promoting meetups and discussion forums as well.
Our local currency (ARS, not argentum / ARG) is in a constant down trend, so many could have a use for bitcoin or whatever crypto currency that is less volatile than our fiat if such thing gains traction.
hey, progress though!
Hi, I'm in Argentina and as far as I know, it is in the Western hemisphere guys...
Now, back on track, I think we're seeing lots more people interested in bitcoin, some start buying a few mbtc as a novelty, or get a block erupter since it's a small cool thing to have.
There are some traders, and I see some tourists that buy pesos with btc via localbitcoins but I wouldn't say it's being adopted. It's really far from that.
Lately some news stories mentioned bitcoin which is remarkable, and there are a few local groups promoting meetups and discussion forums as well.
Our local currency (ARS, not argentum / ARG) is in a constant down trend, so many could have a use for bitcoin or whatever crypto currency that is less volatile than our fiat if such thing gains traction.
Now, back on track, I think we're seeing lots more people interested in bitcoin, some start buying a few mbtc as a novelty, or get a block erupter since it's a small cool thing to have.
There are some traders, and I see some tourists that buy pesos with btc via localbitcoins but I wouldn't say it's being adopted. It's really far from that.
Lately some news stories mentioned bitcoin which is remarkable, and there are a few local groups promoting meetups and discussion forums as well.
Our local currency (ARS, not argentum / ARG) is in a constant down trend, so many could have a use for bitcoin or whatever crypto currency that is less volatile than our fiat if such thing gains traction.
Once the volatility of bitcoin dies down I believe it will become a godsend in countries like Argentina and Iran. A currency their governments have no control over... 
The only problem is how will they get bitcoins?
The only problem is how will they get bitcoins?
I shipped 3 ASICMiner USB Block Erupters to Argentina today
Once the volatility of bitcoin dies down I believe it will become a godsend in countries like Argentina and Iran. A currency their governments have no control over...
The only problem is how will they get bitcoins?
The only problem is how will they get bitcoins?
Don't forget that the language barrier has also slowed things down there... but again, that is starting to change. Adoption is starting to overtake other Spanish speaking countries.
I think the language barrier is often underestimated. The vast majority of Bitcoin content, knowledge, and discussion is English. Other cultures/languages have to go through the process of translating much of this, or creating their own content. This takes a great deal of time.
Nobody is arguing that Bitcoin is "Big in Argentina". The argument is that it has shown some early signs of a small core of enthusiasts organizing there, and this is very important because once a committed group gets organized, good things start happening. Look for Bitcoin to gain lots of Argentinian users in 2014.
I shipped 3 ASICMiner USB Block Erupters to Argentina today
I hope no one here works in logistics :-)
I shipped 3 ASICMiner USB Block Erupters to Argentina today
Driving across the border and using another countries banking system is pure madness!
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