Argentina on lockdown- $25 max out of country purchase, 50% tax on beyond that

[mskryxz]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25836208

Thought I'd post this since no one posted it yet.

Thoughts? This is like Cyprus except you are locked into buying only in Argentina or face 50% tax/tariffs. Even credit cards used for foreign purchases will be taxed.

[mskryxz]

Personally, I think they will move to bitcoin so they can still purchase online goods without facing these tax/tariff hits.

[Littleshop]

Personally, I think they will move to bitcoin so they can still purchase online goods without facing these tax/tariff hits.

It will not work.  Packages are held at customs until valued. 

Bitcoin will help Argentinians leave the country with money or come back with it through physically traveling as well as save in a a currency that does not devalue 30% in a year. 

[BreathOfZen]

Can packages go out of Argentina unmolested? For example if I sold BTC to an Argentinian for a few magic cards, would their shipment make it up to Wisconsin?

[empoweoqwj]

I feel sorry for Argentinians - clearly a country on edge of financial meltdown, any bitcoin exchanges in Argentina?

[Frost000]

Too bad... Beautiful country. Though when it turns to shit, it's a good time to visit since it's fairly cheap.

I guess they're a bit better off than Cyprus, though.

[empoweoqwj]

Too bad... Beautiful country. Though when it turns to shit, it's a good time to visit since it's fairly cheap.

I guess they're a bit better off than Cyprus, though.

Except places turning to shit tend to have civil unrest. I know, I live in Thailand.

[Frost000]

Except places turning to shit tend to have civil unrest. I know, I live in Thailand.

I was in Thailand during the December protests of '08. As a tourist, it really wasn't that bad other than being stuck in the country for an extra week due to Bangkok's airport being occupied.

But I know what you mean...

[nodroids]

Bitcoin to the rescue! If I were an Argentinian I would do what I'm already doing as a Canadian (hehe), everything the moment I get it in fiat would go into BTC. Their history of foreign exchange is just the worst, I would never keep anything in cash there, I would find a landlord who would take bitcoin, maybe even a grocer too.

[empoweoqwj]

Except places turning to shit tend to have civil unrest. I know, I live in Thailand.

I was in Thailand during the December protests of '08. As a tourist, it really wasn't that bad other than being stuck in the country for an extra week due to Bangkok's airport being occupied.

But I know what you mean...

Yeah, Thais don't pick on tourists. Just fellow Thais wearing the opposite coloured shirts

[MoneyMorpheus]

Personally, I think they will move to bitcoin so they can still purchase online goods without facing these tax/tariff hits.

It will not work.  Packages are held at customs until valued. 

Bitcoin will help Argentinians leave the country with money or come back with it through physically traveling as well as save in a a currency that does not devalue 30% in a year. 

We wish it was 30% a year, its more like 10-20% per month, from december to today I can tell there was over 20% price increase...

Though you are right, packages are held in customs to be valued. But I still think if what you order is not available in the country and you order one unit of such item they will let you pay taxes and release it. I have to test it though.

The 25 usd per person and 50% tax is older than bitcoin though, the only difference now is that they become more strict about it and implemented new controls.

[cr1776]

Personally, I think they will move to bitcoin so they can still purchase online goods without facing these tax/tariff hits.

It will not work.  Packages are held at customs until valued.  

Bitcoin will help Argentinians leave the country with money or come back with it through physically traveling as well as save in a a currency that does not devalue 30% in a year.  

We wish it was 30% a year, its more like 10-20% per month, from december to today I can tell there was over 20% price increase...

Though you are right, packages are held in customs to be valued. But I still think if what you order is not available in the country and you order one unit of such item they will let you pay taxes and release it. I have to test it though.

The 25 usd per person and 50% tax is older than bitcoin though, the only difference now is that they become more strict about it and implemented new controls.

That is terrible.  30% per year is bad enough, but 10-20% per month!  It is amazing the number of times the fiat hyper-inflation experiment has been tried with the same results and yet authoritarians keep trying the same thing over and over again.  I guess because it buys them time - they believe that if they can stretch it out for "another couple of years" then they'll be able to suck the people dry a bit more before it all collapses.  The people pay the price while the fascists/socialists/communists/crony-capitalists/authoritarians/etc leaders tend be able to often escape while leaving their followers holding the bag.  They call them the "useful idiots".

[empoweoqwj]

Personally, I think they will move to bitcoin so they can still purchase online goods without facing these tax/tariff hits.

It will not work.  Packages are held at customs until valued. 

Bitcoin will help Argentinians leave the country with money or come back with it through physically traveling as well as save in a a currency that does not devalue 30% in a year. 

We wish it was 30% a year, its more like 10-20% per month, from december to today I can tell there was over 20% price increase...

Though you are right, packages are held in customs to be valued. But I still think if what you order is not available in the country and you order one unit of such item they will let you pay taxes and release it. I have to test it though.

The 25 usd per person and 50% tax is older than bitcoin though, the only difference now is that they become more strict about it and implemented new controls.

Wow - that's awful. There's been worse "hyper-inflation" (Zimbabwe etc) but not in such a developed country recently  I can think of. Don't country issued currencies suck ass.

[Spendulus]

Wow - that's awful. There's been worse "hyper-inflation" (Zimbabwe etc) but not in such a developed country recently  I can think of. Don't country issued currencies suck ass.

Well, okay then. 

Here we go.

Bitcoin vs Bad Country Fiat.

ROUND 2.

[empoweoqwj]

Wow - that's awful. There's been worse "hyper-inflation" (Zimbabwe etc) but not in such a developed country recently  I can think of. Don't country issued currencies suck ass.

Well, okay then. 

Here we go.

Bitcoin vs Bad Country Fiat.

ROUND 2.

Price of bitcoin appears to be on slide at the moment - I think people are nervous ahead of the 30th. Can't think of any other reason ?

[Spendulus]

Wow - that's awful. There's been worse "hyper-inflation" (Zimbabwe etc) but not in such a developed country recently  I can think of. Don't country issued currencies suck ass.

Well, okay then. 

Here we go.

Bitcoin vs Bad Country Fiat.

ROUND 2.

Price of bitcoin appears to be on slide at the moment - I think people are nervous ahead of the 30th. Can't think of any other reason ?

Don't read a short trend line.  For that matter, don't read a long trend line.  RE price sliding, I guess one could measure statistical volatility day to day and have the 'normal range of volatility' and so forth. 

Guess I just decided a bit back it was the wild wild west and left it at that, LOL...

[empoweoqwj]

Wow - that's awful. There's been worse "hyper-inflation" (Zimbabwe etc) but not in such a developed country recently  I can think of. Don't country issued currencies suck ass.

Well, okay then. 

Here we go.

Bitcoin vs Bad Country Fiat.

ROUND 2.

Price of bitcoin appears to be on slide at the moment - I think people are nervous ahead of the 30th. Can't think of any other reason ?

Don't read a short trend line.  For that matter, don't read a long trend line.  RE price sliding, I guess one could measure statistical volatility day to day and have the 'normal range of volatility' and so forth. 

Guess I just decided a bit back it was the wild wild west and left it at that, LOL...

Yeah I understand its the wild wild west but I do believe sell-offs are triggered by "something" so always looking to see what that something is. Price has been on the slide for 3 days now. Lots of positive news recently so must be something spooking the market. China is the only thing that springs to mind.

[Wilikon]

Following the sudden collapse in the peso this week, some Argentinians fear their country may be lurching into a new episode of the crises that seem to hit the country’s economy almost every decade.

Scrambling to protect the country’s perilously low central bank reserves, which dropped 30% last year and fell below $30bn (£18bn) this month, the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner seemed at a loss how to proceed.

It started the week introducing tight controls on the purchase of online goods from abroad, to prevent Argentinians from spending dollars in ever larger quantities – especially on Chinese products which, as a result of 30% inflation, can be cheaper delivered to their door from abroad than bought at local stores.

But on Friday the government seemed to do a U-turn, saying it would relax its grip on the dollar. From next week it will remove some of the controls it introduced two years ago which banned Argentinians from trading their pesos for dollars, a customary practice in a country with a long history of inflation.

The dollar freeze paralysed the property market, which operates in dollars, but failed to stem the rush away from the peso. Instead it created a black market where the dollar has risen from eight to 13 pesos in the last year while the central bank continued using – and losing – reserves trying to keep the dollar in check.

Its battle was ultimately lost this week in view of the peso’s sudden collapse.

Seemingly oblivious to the country’s economic plight, Fernández has referred to the last 10 years – since her husband assumed Argentina’s presidency in 2003, and she took over in 2007 – as the “victorious decade”.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/24/peso-collapse-argentina-economic-crisis-fernandez-de-kirchner

[Sindelar1938]

This is really nasty

Key question is: how good is the infrastructure locally for argentines to buy bitcoins?

[hilariousandco]

I feel sorry for Argentinians - clearly a country on edge of financial meltdown, any bitcoin exchanges in Argentina?

I think most countries are on the edge of financial meltdown. Just look at the debt countries are in including the UK and US. This level of debt isn't sustainable and will come crashing down around us at some point.