Following Milei’s win, Bitcoin in Argentina soared but has now corrected some of its profit, although it remains higher than previous levels.
The price of Bitcoin has hit a new record in Argentina after Bitcoin proponent and presidential candidate Javier Milei won the election primaries. At a time when the price of the king coin and other cryptocurrencies are struggling, Bitcoin has recorded new gains in Argentina. The king coin jumped 21% to 10.2 million ARS (Argentine Peso) from 8.4 million ARS.
The spike happened in less than an hour on August 14. However, Bitcoin has corrected since then and is trading at 9.9 million ARS. Nevertheless, BTC has recorded impressive growth against the Argentine Peso since late last year. CoinGecko data has Bitcoin rising 210% against the ARS since August 17 last year.
The recent spike reflects Bitcoin enthusiast Milei’s win. The candidate has previously said that Bitcoin is the people’s reaction against what he calls “central bank scammers”. In addition, Milei has an anti-fiat currency stance as he believes it grants politicians the power to scam Argentines with inflation.
Argentines seem interested in this position, especially since the country is facing heavy inflation at 116%. Some analysts predict it could hit 142%. Interestingly, the central bank of Argentina’s prediction is 148.9%.
Milei won 84% of the votes at the primaries conducted by his party, “La Libertad Avanza” (Freedom Advances). Furthermore, Milei scored 30.73% of the total votes, with the “Unidos por la Patria” (United for the Homeland) coalition and the “Juntos por el Cambio” (Together for Change) party scoring 26.84% and 28.14%, respectively.
Bitcoin and Crypto in Argentina
Although Milei is pro-Bitcoin, the politician does not think Bitcoin should be legal tender. He does not believe that Argentina should follow the route El Salvador did when it made Bitcoin legal tender in 2021. Milei’s plan is to “ dollarize” the economy, suggesting that Argentina should use the US dollar.
In January, Coinspeaker reported that Argentina and Brazil are collaborating to launch a common currency. Both countries plan to use the new currency to strengthen their economic and trade relationship while lowering their dependence on the US dollar. This plan is in direct contradiction with Milei’s dollarization agenda if he does become president after the elections in October.
Back in May, Argentina’s central bank forbade payment providers from supporting crypto transactions. The central bank said in a statement that financial institutions should not facilitate any transactions that involve unregulated crypto assets, The ban affects all tokens and coins since Argentina does not regulate cryptocurrencies.
In a Twitter thread, the Argentine Chamber of Fintech rejected the central bank’s decree. According to the Chamber of Fintech, such rules only hinder progress and disrupt the free choice of Argentines “who seek alternatives to protect their purchasing power in a context of accelerated inflation”. The Chamber also criticized the central bank for not creating constructive dialogue between stakeholders in the private and public sectors. In addition, they noted that it is important to analyze the sector’s impact, regarding jobs, innovation, and knowledge exportation, before making a blanket decision like a ban.