Argentina suffers from the worst inflation in the last 30 years, reaching 102.5% in 12 months. To escape this chaotic situation, many Argentines are finding in cryptocurrencies the freedom and stability that the state currency does not provide.
This is the case of Ernesto C., a worker in the food industry in the city of Córdoba, 70 km from Buenos Aires, he started buying the stablecoin USDT to circumvent government sanctions on dollar purchases.
“That way, you also avoid going to cuevas [casas de câmbio ilegais]”, he told the Buenos Aires Herald newspaper.
Argentines cannot buy more than US$200 per month officially. Because they are non-physical and have a 1:1 value pegged to the dollar, stablecoins like USDT have become great outlets for preserving the value of money.
Despite being widely used, USDT is not the most popular crypto asset in the neighboring country, but bitcoin (BTC). The world’s first cryptocurrency is a favorite of Argentines, as it is truly decentralized and more reliable than government currencies.
A survey by Morgin Consult showed that 60% of Argentines trust cryptocurrencies more than the peso.
Price control, picanha and inflation
Part of the Argentine population voted for the current president, Alberto Fernández, with the promise that meat would become cheap again and that Argentines would have beer in abundance.
The strategy worked, but the population that wanted picanha is receiving misery and less freedom.
In early February, the government announced price controls for some popular items, including meat. As a result, the country famous for its quality meats is now waiting for the food to run out on shelves.
Farmer Darío Magio, from the province of Saladillo in Buenos Aires, says he will stop producing beef, pork and chicken with the new government measures.
“Our role as farmers is to produce food, but if the government is taking 60 out of every 100 pesos I earn, I reach a point where I can no longer produce and live”.
Bitcoin was created for this
The Argentine government is the perfect example of why we need bitcoin. A country that was once extremely rich and admired, managed to sink into populist measures, destroying its currency and economy in a few decades.
The only way out for many of our neighbors is to switch to Bitcoin plan B.
