Recently, a report said Argentina’s folks are really into Bitcoin because their money, the Argentine peso, keeps dropping. They’re trying hard to save up their cash, but with the peso losing value, they’re turning to Bitcoin more than they have in the past 20 months.
On. Mar 20, Bloomberg reported that Lemon Cash, a crypto exchange, shared data showing that about 35,000 people in Argentina bought Bitcoin last week, doubling the usual weekly number from 2023.
One big reason demand goes up is because our country’s money keeps dropping.
Over the last year, the value of ARS compared to USD has dropped four times, going from 0.0049 USD per ARS in March 2023 to 0.0012 USD now.
But Lemon isn’t the only platform seeing more demand. Other big exchanges in Argentina, like Ripio and Belo, are seeing similar trends.
The CEO of Belo digital wallet, Manuel Beaudroi, says stablecoin purchases in Argentina dropped from 70% to 60% as Bitcoin’s price increased, attracting more interest.
“People decide to buy Bitcoin when they hear it’s going up, while stablecoin is more practical and often used for transactions, like making payments abroad,” he explains. Beaudroi also says Belo has seen Bitcoin and Ether trading increase ten times in 2024 compared to last year.
Argentines Embrace Bitcoin Amidst Stablecoin Surge
However, a recent report suggests interest in stablecoins might still be there. Argentines might be avoiding well-known exchanges in the country to buy stablecoins.
On Feb. 12, Cointelegraph reported that Argentines are using underground exchanges, known as “crypto caves,” to buy USD stablecoins to get around strict currency controls and ARS inflation.
Meanwhile, more folks are using digital money to buy stuff here.
In Dec 2023, Diana Mondino, who is in charge of foreign affairs, trade, and religion, said there would be new rules letting people use Bitcoin and other online cash in our country, but only if they follow some rules.
After that, a landlord and a renter in Rosario, the third busiest city in Argentina, made a deal where the renter would pay each month using Bitcoin.
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