Bitcoin Forum

Argentina's economy is standing on the verge of collapse. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the president of Argentina, has rejected to repay 1.5 billion USD debt to USA.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/17/argentina-president-defies-us-court-orders-on-repayment-debts/

Can Bitcoin be the Messiah for the Argentines ?

There is another topic on this
But more than one on the topic doesn't hurt so yes I think it could be a possibility
Countries that are weak in the international financial system may look to diversify their holdings to a basket not controlled by a central banking system or subject to heavy rules in order to get more money for their economy at the cost of their citizens needs (World Bank)
So there is room for Bitcoin here :)

Just published an article which roughly covers this.  While bitcoin isn't the Messiah (still too small/too unknown) poor economic circumstances within the country means, without a doubt, that the risk of adopting bitcoin is much lower than it would be in a stable economy.

Here's the article via medium.
https://medium.com/@JamesHDowner/loosing-trust-in-your-currency-935b1c4e8b72

Bitcoin is rapidly growing within Argentina as things stand
Non repayment of govy debt will accelerate adoption once the new dose of fx pain kicks in

could this possibly be the reason for today's jump in price? it went up $20, at least so far.

Possibly but ironically likely has nothing to do with actual Argentines.  It's probably people in China or the States wanking at this news and buying in anticipation that Bitcoin will go up from Argentines buying.  Which isn't the case because Bitcoin requires educating future users and that is something it has struggled in doing so far.  Beyond the get quick rich types, nobody is really buying into Bitcoin.  Bitcoin would do wonders as remittance in Africa (Western Union charges up to 20% by the end) and yet there's nobody educating Africans on the utility of using Bitcoin.

The Silk Road auction was probably factored in and the price is going back to its regular rhythm
Although one could easily make a bet on the price dropping near to the 26th again when the actual auction occurs for those Bitcoins.
Anyways I hope that Argentina starts using Bitcoin in significant scale they need a new solution to their monetary problems and a few good entrepreneurs to build it.

Wonderful! Every country should follow this. US and its lapdogs such as the IMF have been trying to invade countries and use economical means to enslave the population for too long. Time has come to end this.  ;D

One of the biggest problem now Argentines will face converting their asset to BTC is no one will want their currency as an exchange. Moreover, AFAIK, Bitcoin is banned in Argentina, so there is no local exchange as such.

Why they need a local exchange, when global exchanges such as Bistamp are able to make fiat withdrawals to that country? Anyway we have Localbitcoins, which is specific to certain nations.

NO!

Simple as that.
Bitcoin will not create jobs , it won't increase productivity , won't raise wages.

Don't forget that a lot of countries ended in bankruptcy even with the gold standard.
Bitcoin isn't a miraculous cure.



Source?

Europe will buy bitcoins aggressively when a few big banks will fail and they will print money to reimburse depositor or perform an haircut on savings

Quite a few big banks failed in Cyprus last year. But no one rushed to gather their Bitcoins. Most of the people remain ignorant about Bitcoins, and they will trust the banks no matter what they do.  >:(

Which is what I wrote before.

Some people in America and China are racing to buy Bitcoin, thinking it'll go up soon from Argentines, but in reality we can safely assume that 99.9% of Argentines will continue to be none the wiser about Bitcoin.

Crypto currencies right now is like the internet back in the early 1990s.  I think we still have a long way to go in educating people of alternatives like crypto currencies.

Hedgefunds with bonds will rape them, that is for sure.

I think it is just a matter of awareness and ability once people realize that it is easy to use and make transactions in Bitcoins there fears will be alleviated and they will start using it more often.

The challenge is to make it easy for users to adopt and to transact with Bitcoin in Argentina.

Fox news? Seriously? My dog can make better reports than them.

They cant use BTC-e/Bitstamp type global exchanges as their banks cant convert ARS to USD easily. U cant use ARS on these exchanges. U have to convert it and u need help of your country's bank.

 Bitcoin started raising in price after Cyprus

Think Argentina will block their currency and ban bitcoin like China.

AFAIK Bitcoin is already (officially) banned in Argentina. Wikipedia does not mention that though...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_Bitcoins_by_country

That doesn't mean Cypriots rushed to buy bitcoins.  After all it would have been near impossible with the banks closed.



I've already asked you for a source in the last post.
From where do you know that bitcoin is banned in Argentina.

If you don't have a source please stop spreading FUD.

I read it somewhere in this forum only, more precisely in the discussion section. Hence I said AFAIK, not sure. But it seems you are confident that it is not banned at Messi's homeland. So r u from Argentina ?

I've searched both the forum and the news about bitcoin.. nothing:).

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=631949.0

The argentine central bank is said to be hostile , but there is no actual ban.


http://cointelegraph.com/news/111613/argentinean_central_bank_warns_against_using_bitcoin

Clarification point
As per Bitlegal.net the legality of Bitcoin in Argentina is considered friendly although your note seems more recent so did it change?

Inflation has been a significant problem in Argentina for many years, and citizens have long held U.S. dollars as a stable currency. However, in 2011 the country began to clamp down on citizens' ability to obtain foreign currency for savings or international purchases.[1, 2] Under General Ruling 3,210, sales or purchases of foreign currency through licensed foreign exchange entities must be cleared by the Argentine tax authority, which may either validate or deny the transaction. Central Bank Communications “A” 5318 (July 5, 2012) and “A” 5330 (July 26, 2012) forbid individuals from holding foreign currency for savings purposes. Argentinians hold an estimated $160 billion in US currency. In an effort to inject this money into the Argentine economy, the government began issuing certificates, known as Cedines, in return for dollars turned in by individuals as part of a tax amnesty plan.[3] The financial regulations and fluctuations in the Argentine peso have created a vibrant environment of personal bitcoin users who view the digital currency as a safer option than anything provided by the government - this is currently manifesting as a shadow economy.[4] Although there have been no official pronouncements from Argentina’s government, use of bitcoins is a poorly kept secret, so it is fair to call the government “permissive” - for now.

http://bitlegal.net/nation/AR.php

@niothor u dodged the Q if u r from Argentina... though from your post history, it seems u r from Romania ;)

Oh , sorry about that.
I gave you the reasons why I think it is not banned on Argentina with a central bank response.
I doubt that somebody in Argentina can come down here and say , yeah the central bank says it is not banned but it actually is.

Further more , just going  back to the whole bitcoin banned in china , seems like having a lot of Chinese here as well as a chinese forum didn't help a lot as it took us one week to find a good translation for the PBoC announcer with all the wall observer thread posters asking for one.

Also , you're right on that. I stated a lot of times where I'm from that you can find that easy in my posts.

ps , I really don't like messi :). especially after the tonight goal.

Argentina has a significant amount of foreign currency reserves, well more then enough to pay the creditors that it owes that did not accept reduced debt in 2001.

That's true. But they are not paying the US, because they feel that the Americans indebted them through wrong means.

The Argentine Forex Reserves are not that gigantic either. In February 2014, they amounted for just $28.3 billion.

Imo Cyprus scheme can't be repeated in the Central and South America.

Is it just me, or does this come in the wake of Putin's visit to Argentina, where the two countries were seen getting along, so Argentina needed punishing for that?

Not the 1st time they default on their loan. Creditors should take haircut and take responsible also.

no, that's what it seems like. didn't putin pardon argentina's loan too? they knew they weren't getting it back, so it was just a goodwill gesture to send a collective "fuck you" to the states. or maybe that was cuba, the country known for being anti-US.

Cuba got pardoned for their loans. I am not sure about Argentina. I'm not sure if cuba is anti-US at present, after all,  the illegal concentration camp guatanamo is there.

Newfination's Donald McIntyre is from Argentina
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWGyG1Z3CgiKnLsRzwTBTOg (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWGyG1Z3CgiKnLsRzwTBTOg)

He does some cool podcsts on Crypto topics, I think there is already quiet a few followers in Argentina

Argentina restructured its debt meaning there has been an haircut for most the debt

More info : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_debt_restructuring

Italy and Portugal aren't that far behind for the haircut.