Topic: Bitcoin becoming a safehaven currency in Argentina - page 7. (Read 1662 times)

That sounds so easy in paper but actually that is not. Going to Venezuela and selling your Bitcoin or just using the local exchange platforms available is not a very viable option to anyone. Had it been easy like that certainly we could have taken advantage of this market en masse. It is really amazing how Venezuela continues to be the top model when it comes to how Bitcoin is helping the people cope up with the crippling economic conditions they are in.

Though it is quite painful to see a country and its people suffer from the many maladies they are in, we are quite thankful that they have one tool available for the many. Now, can somebody please tell us more how easy or how difficult it is to buy and hold Bitcoin in that said country...? Aside from Venezulea, there is also Zimbabwe where Bitcoin is getting more popular each day.

Wait, so you can only withdraw 100 dollars worth of physical cash? That's crazy... Not sure what you'd be able to do with that much money.

What does the 10,000 restriction mean? They will only let you perform 10,000 dollars worth of transactions per month before they lock your account until the next month?

This is astounding... Not even for Bitcoin, but the country of Argentina in general, I'm not sure why they aren't going for a band-aid option with Bitcoin - looks like they are definitely buckling down.

The South American continent is getting worse in terms of their fiat system and usability. Lucky for them in a way because Bitcoin is already here as a much better alternative. Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, and what's next? The worse the economic situation in these countries gets, the wider the adoption of Bitcoin grows. What I hope is that the ordinary shops in these countries will also start adopting Bitcoin for the citizens to be able to continue their day to day life with Bitcoin as their money.

The economic crisis have been hitting many countries recently. The situation will get worse in coming years as the threat of recession is looming over us and political instability is increasing throughout the globe. In such a time, crypto could be preferred as an alternative form of investment which can safeguard ones money from devaluation. It's time when people understand the importance of decentralized currency.

People also manipulate the $100 figure, it's actually about the total amount of $300 ($100 in cash+$200 via bank account). And as for the average salary in Argentina, I use data from Salaryexplorer, you can see more details on that page. It may be important to emphasize that 50% of all employees earn a salary below the average amount, and 25% earn less than 9,372 ARS which is more than half of the average salary.

Actually life is not so cheap in Argentina (for local people), and by this article one person can live comfortably for $1000 per month. If we consider a family of four with two employees and an average salary (2x $320), this is not money that can make a decent living in an urban environment, but in rural area, prices are significantly lower.

I think people do their best to make extra money in their spare time, as is the case throughout Central and South America. We can take Cuba for example, where one doctor's salary is just around $50 per month, and one family of 4 need around $600-$700 per month. What people do there is the art of survival, in the literal sense of the word.

Bitcoin will eventually become a safe haven everywhere. It is likely that this process starts with crisis-hit countries. If your nation is hit by hyper-inflation, Bitcoin is now a valid choice. And even if you're wary of the price fluctuations - which are less for bitcoin than for any other crypto - there are still crypto stablecoins which have proven to be safe and steady over the years.

Bitcoin will become seen as the best store-of-value option there is. It will supplant gold. As crypto matures, its price fluctuations will diminish. The path may be rocky, but it leads inevitably into the mainstream.

The economic crisis in different countries was a catastrophe. The restriction may lead to the person who bears the money to buy or exchange their cash when they want to leave the country.
The solution is indeed to buy Bitcoin or stable coin like USDT and re-sell after outside the country and make its dollar. But can it possibly be a good solution? Hopefully not subject to illegal transactions

Wow, In Argentina, the Bitcoin price is 30% more than any other country, that's a positive move for this coin in any specific nation, I think Argentina is one of the highest Bitcoin holders countries, so it makes them a safe place, not only that but also south American countries are always a safe area for this platform, that's why the USA government are trying to oppose always towards blockchain and Bitcoin technology, I think the USA government is still the main problem of this platform but it may require more time to be stable in every corner of this technology, today or tomorrow, Bitcoin will dominate in the monetary world because it has a lot of potentiality and versatility.

This is one of the many scenarios possible that bitcoin could help a sinking economy. Fewer restrictions and smaller fees attract people to invest their precious funds in bitcoin, but the volatility is one of the factors that might keep them away and couldn't be removed in the market because it's core idea is being decentralized controlled by pure supply and demand. What OP has told is somewhat of a refuge to other country's fiat to cut losses. While this may be a temporary fix, Argentina needs to prevent further inflation or they'll face serious problem with their currency.

Compared most other countries Argentina is small market for Cryptocurrency. The inflation in the country has made them think of an alternative to keep their earnings secure. This seems to be the reason for the increasing interest over cryptocurrency investment. Maybe over the years this might evolve as a big market.

Also the market contribution increases when there is increase in the trading practice of cryptocurrency. Now there isn't such a big number in trading as people aren't earning big. Only limited zones were developed, which marks the need for uniform development.

They would be purchasing Bitcoin using the Argentine peso, right? In that case, why can't they carry the Peso banknotes with them to either Uruguay or Brazil and then convert to USD there? Once the cash is converted, then they can bring it back to Argentina. The restriction is only on purchasing USD from the central bank, and not from the other sources. Purchasing Bitcoin in Argentina and then converting it to USD in neighboring nations sounds too complex. They need to find a buyer in Brazil, who would pay them physical cash. And obviously there are multiple risk factors associated with this method.

BTW, I checked the exchange rates of the national currency (Argentine Peso). It is going down like a falling knife. During the past 30-days, the exchange rate has gone from 1 USD = 57 Peso to 1 USD = 60 Peso. And the government is trying hard to prop up the currency and in the exchange rate is even lower in the dark market.

Inflation in Argentina is a complication of several mistakes in decision making including:
- False fiscal policy of the central bank of Argentina by raising the benchmark interest rate in the hope of reducing inflation and keeping investors from running, such as saving fuel subsidies, raising taxes and reducing the cost of state spending.
- Borrowing funds from the IMF, giving rise to a series of policies that are detrimental to its people so that the stability of the government is disrupted
- Uncertain political conditions due to presidential elections, and the concerns of opposition candidates who won and the fact that the opposition won the election in October 2019. President Macri is a follower of austerity.
- the drought that hit Argentina so that the agricultural sector experienced a decline, even though the agricultural sector was the biggest foreign exchange earner for Argentina.

Argentina's conditions and central bank policies that limit buyers of gold and bitcoin make investors and even the Argentine community buy bitcoin to protect the value of their assets against inflation. Indeed the people of Argentina can choose to buy gold or bitcoin, many choose bitcoin because it is easier to buy and store than gold. The case in Argentina shows that bitcoin is trusted by many people in the world, what is needed now is massive education so that many parties who have come to understand and use bitcoin.

South Americans countries were always on top when it comes to cryptocurrencies and its good to see that argentina its stepping up more than usual when it comes to Bitcoin adoption. Its seems that the only country left to point citizen to adoption of cryptos is USA , which is unbelievable as all adoption started to rise all over the world and USA is still fighting for a regulation ...they will loose this race for sure and maybe its intentionally.

It's not about making a few thousand dollars. It's simply about preserving your money. How many crises has Argentina gone through now? It's happening practically every decade now.

It makes sense to buy bitcoin simply to make sure your savings don't lose value. Even if you can save $500, it's worth it compared to seeing your money become worthless AGAIN.

Awesome that you wrote that, because I was wondering about that $100 limit.  BTW, is that 19,014 ARS the monthly salary or annual?  I will assume it's monthly--and if it's yearly, that's incredible.  I had no idea that the cost of living was that cheap, though I realize that it wouldn't seem that way to people who live there.

Bitcoin won't be a safe-haven asset to the people of Argentina, even if it becomes a go-to asset.  There's a big difference.  If any of them do buy bitcoin, there's a damn good chance they could lose purchasing power.  They'd be much better off sticking with USD if they can survive on that pitiful $100/month.

And yeah, I'm sure they can figure out a way around the restriction but it would be so much better if their government didn't impose that kind of thing in the first place.  It sounds extremely repressive.

I think it is? Though there are a lot of possible process involved that are needed to be done beforehand though, so it is kind of a hassle.

Well, I don't blame them with the limiting thingy. It is the job of the government to regulate fiat and at the very least, let fiat be the most used currency for most of the people. This could at the very least let the peso in their country circulate around the market itself, letting the economy grow and repair itself. But with how Argentina people are buying BTC instead, this let's their peso go away in the form of USD which I think restrains the growth of their economy.

That has been the option of many holders whose country is struggling in its economy, the immigration cannot stop you for doing this because all are in USB or saved in your email where you can access abroad, many are doing right now, our country has a limitation on how many dollars you can buy to take out abroad, with Cryptocurrency all has become so easy and there's no tax either.

Old news with new numbers, before the limit was $10 000, now it is only $100 in cash + $200 with a bank account. But I have no doubt that the people of Argentina will be able to circumvent all possible restrictions if there is a desire for something, there is also a way to make it happen.

The average salary in Argentina is around 19,014 ARS ($320), so I doubt too many people can invest in buying BTC or $ after paying all the living expenses in one month. Argentina is still quite a small market for crypto-based on OP article - in 4 days of trading only $200 000 is traded so far.

Previous discussion can be found in this thread: Argentina capital controls, a strong case for bitcoin

Your workaround does not sound feasible for those who small-cap to mid-cap traders. Only whales would attempt to do so and by all means they have been doing it every once and while to launder their money which is also why they get target by income tax and exchanges force KYC on them.

It is likely that there are bitcoin based business operating from Argentina and they are fueling this economic conditions to set it. They may just move on to another country if they feel that the noose is tightening. This does end up being a choke for the smaller startups based on crypto and governments predatory policies to them.

I've never heard of Ripio, and my question is can't Argentinians buy bitcoin on some other exchange if they need to?  I assume Ripio is an online exchange and that Argentina's citizens aren't limited as to what crypto exchanges they can use (tho I could be wrong).  Also that mark up doesn't seem too extreme to me.  That sounds about like what you'd get if you were to buy bitcoin at an ATM.

Very interesting article, by the way.  It sounds crazy to me that the gov't would limit the amount of dollars you could buy per month when the economy is suffering so badly.  Hopefully bitcoin can give the people who live there an alternative to cash and that they'll stick with it in the future.  This is exactly what bitcoin was made for.