[2018-09-23] In Argentina, Investors Flock to Safe-Haven Bitcoin

[Jgilpulg]

So far, the efforts of Argentina’s Central Bank to stabilize the peso have been to no avail. As a result, according to Taylor, the Central Bank is exploring the possibility of diversifying into Bitcoin.

https://bitcoinist.com/in-argentina-investors-flock-to-safe-haven-bitcoin/

[1714172921]

1714172921

[Betwrong]

Although the graph in the article shows rising in weekly trading volume of BTC against Argentine peso(ARS), this volume is still very small compared to that of other National Currencies. Currently the daily BTC/ARS exchange volume takes 48th place with only 0.0001 % of the total trading volume. For those who are interested in more detailed information here's the link:

https://www.coinhills.com/market/currency/

Certainly there can't be any impact on Bitcoin price, considering that the volume is so low. But if the Central Bank of one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America will start buying BTC diversifying their currency reserves, the situation may change significantly. We'll see.

[squatter]

Although the graph in the article shows rising in weekly trading volume of BTC against Argentine peso(ARS), this volume is still very small compared to that of other National Currencies. Currently the daily BTC/ARS exchange volume takes 48th place with only 0.0001 % of the total trading volume. For those who are interested in more detailed information here's the link:

https://www.coinhills.com/market/currency/

Certainly there can't be any impact on Bitcoin price, considering that the volume is so low.

It seems like they only track Localbitcoins. Are there not any centralized exchanges, or other P2P exchanges in Argentina? I'd agree, volume looks too low to have an effect on the broader market.

But if the Central Bank of one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America will start buying BTC diversifying their currency reserves, the situation may change significantly. We'll see.

Any source for these rumors about Argentina's central bank? I've seen this mentioned a few times, but never seen a source for it. Color me skeptical.

[Betwrong]

Although the graph in the article shows rising in weekly trading volume of BTC against Argentine peso(ARS), this volume is still very small compared to that of other National Currencies. Currently the daily BTC/ARS exchange volume takes 48th place with only 0.0001 % of the total trading volume. For those who are interested in more detailed information here's the link:

https://www.coinhills.com/market/currency/

Certainly there can't be any impact on Bitcoin price, considering that the volume is so low.

It seems like they only track Localbitcoins. Are there not any centralized exchanges, or other P2P exchanges in Argentina? I'd agree, volume looks too low to have an effect on the broader market.

Yes, it looks like Coinhills is only tracking Localbitcoins for Argentina. But still they are not far from the truth. According to a recent article on Cointelegraph:

Argentina is only the 45th biggest market in the world for Bitcoin, despite having the sixth highest rate of inflation in the world.

So the volume is still very low to have any impact.

But if the Central Bank of one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America will start buying BTC diversifying their currency reserves, the situation may change significantly. We'll see.

Any source for these rumors about Argentina's central bank? I've seen this mentioned a few times, but never seen a source for it. Color me skeptical.

The source is this very article in the OP. Here's a quote from it:

At the same time, the Argentinian Central Bank is considering diversifying their currency reserves into BTC.

I haven't managed to find more reliable sources though. Found several sites mostly reposting the same news. I suppose some official info can be in Spanish, and that's why I can't find it.

[vy99]

Yeah the only reason Argentina's financial crisis isn't making bigger news is because it's being overshadowed by the financial crisis in Venezuela...but the inflation in Argentina is getting to the point where they're basically a lighter version of Venezuela right now.

[acheampong64]

Haha...
so now countries have started believing in Bitcoin to safeguard their economy! That's really a good step and a good news for us if that should happen. Bitcoin is a liberation coin and we have to appreciate that. By the way, Argentina's currency has been performing poorly of late and they really need the redemption.

[Harlot]

It does not make their financials any more secured if they did this as it will still depend on the person who will be managing the portfolio. Also why will they transfer their country's wealth to a volatile currency? For me this is not a economical solution but rather a high risk high reward play and if things don't turn out well it will put Argentina in a far more worse condition compared to what they have now. I rather solve the problem internally rather than put my country in a position where they won't have the chance to rise again.

[gentlemand]

So the whole basis of this bollocks is this -

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4207604-bitcoin-argentina-push-price-higher?page=4

'Santiago Siri, a San Francisco-based blockchain technology enthusiast who's best known for his work developing the voting platform Democracy Earth. Siri's heading back to his native Argentina later this month with a proposal for Luis Caputo, the President of Argentina's Central Bank.

His idea, announced in a tweet (in Spanish) last month, is that the central bank place up to one percent of its national reserves in bitcoin.'


So some crypto nobody will stick a note through the central bank's door saying 'buy bitcoin.'

And it'll probably be pushed right back out of the letterbox at him.

Once again a vaguely expressed idea by someone we've never heard of becomes touted as fact.

I think the central bank might just be a little more interested in dollars. Crazy but true.

[1Referee]

so now countries have started believing in Bitcoin to safeguard their economy! That's really a good step and a good news for us if that should happen. Bitcoin is a liberation coin and we have to appreciate that. By the way, Argentina's currency has been performing poorly of late and they really need the redemption.

All these articles are sensation based and trying to hype up Bitcoin in times "good" or "positive" news has zero effect whatsoever.

If people really believe a central bank at this point in time will look to dump a chunk of its assets into Bitcoin, they are simply delusional. Regardless how much of an advocate of Bitcoin I am, there is no point in believing this to become reality, nor do I believe that Bitcoin is actually ready for that level of adoption. There are way better legacy alternatives out there.

If you think logically, the only thing that needs to happen in order to obtain stability, is to have significant positions in stronger fiat currencies. Even if the US Dollar isn't the perfect option, it is the best and most viable option in current time and day. Instead of going through 10-20% devaluation, they'll gladly accept swallowing 1-2% annual devaluations.

[BitHodler]

Yeah the only reason Argentina's financial crisis isn't making bigger news is because it's being overshadowed by the financial crisis in Venezuela...but the inflation in Argentina is getting to the point where they're basically a lighter version of Venezuela right now.

Argentina needs to turn into Venezuela 2.0 in order to become more news worthy. I haven't seen one bit of coverage on Argentina's financial problems locally, but almost daily plenty of Venezuela and its refugees.

You really have to dig into everything yourself if you want to know what's going on in the world, because news outlets only show you what they think is relevant for their income, which is somewhat retarded but also understandable.

It's a business and as long as that is the case, we'll have to accept that these things happen. I'm glad that everything is just a couple of clicks away on the internet, so we don't depend on them to feed us news.

[hatshepsut93]

Although the graph in the article shows rising in weekly trading volume of BTC against Argentine peso(ARS), this volume is still very small compared to that of other National Currencies. Currently the daily BTC/ARS exchange volume takes 48th place with only 0.0001 % of the total trading volume. For those who are interested in more detailed information here's the link:

https://www.coinhills.com/market/currency/

Certainly there can't be any impact on Bitcoin price, considering that the volume is so low. But if the Central Bank of one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America will start buying BTC diversifying their currency reserves, the situation may change significantly. We'll see.

I feel like this is the case with nearly any news about investors moving to Bitcoin in some countries as a reaction to negative economic events - it always end up with having no impact because the volume is only a tiny fraction of Bitcoin's total volume. I'd only pay attention to countries with big Bitcoin trading volume if I wanted to make some predictions on the potential price changes from certain news.

[Theb]

Argentina needs to turn into Venezuela 2.0 in order to become more news worthy. I haven't seen one bit of coverage on Argentina's financial problems locally, but almost daily plenty of Venezuela and its refugees.

You really have to dig into everything yourself if you want to know what's going on in the world, because news outlets only show you what they think is relevant for their income, which is somewhat retarded but also understandable.

It's a business and as long as that is the case, we'll have to accept that these things happen. I'm glad that everything is just a couple of clicks away on the internet, so we don't depend on them to feed us news.

Thinking of it, Argentina might be in the wrong direction as they are investing in Bitcoin not creating one of their own cryptocurrency unlike Venezuela where I think they are already planning a second kind of cryptocurrency after Petro and this time it is related to their central bank. Their strategy is of course better than what the Venezuelan Government is doing but in terms of risk I don't think this is a worthy trade off as they really are risking their own money into a volatile market, there is really no guaranteed safe-haven for their money.

[squatter]

Thinking of it, Argentina might be in the wrong direction as they are investing in Bitcoin not creating one of their own cryptocurrency unlike Venezuela where I think they are already planning a second kind of cryptocurrency after Petro and this time it is related to their central bank. Their strategy is of course better than what the Venezuelan Government is doing but in terms of risk I don't think this is a worthy trade off as they really are risking their own money into a volatile market, there is really no guaranteed safe-haven for their money.

Of course there's no guaranteed safe haven. That's why central banks hold various assets as hedges, and also why the rumor is about investing 1% of their reserves into BTC, nothing more.

I still haven't seen a reliable source for this, though. Just some articles about how the central bank wanted more information about BTC and some un-sourced rumors about these supposed plans. I'd take it with a grain of salt.

[magneto]

So far, the efforts of Argentina’s Central Bank to stabilize the peso have been to no avail. As a result, according to Taylor, the Central Bank is exploring the possibility of diversifying into Bitcoin.

https://bitcoinist.com/in-argentina-investors-flock-to-safe-haven-bitcoin/

Even though the stats on localbitcoins may be a bit skewed based on the fact that they are based on Argentine Pesos, which is depreciating at a rapid rate at the moment, the general trend is still there of adoption of bitcoin as a safe haven within this country.

It is interesting that people are taking notice now that bitcoin has the potential to be a store of value in financial crises, especially when the fiat currency is depreciating at such a rapid rate, due to the fact that its supply is completely limited and can't be debased the same way fiat can.

Argetina, Venezuela, etc. are all examples of this, where average citizens can benefit from adopting bitcoin to hedge themselves against their own country's currencies. But the central bank could also hold bitcoin as a reserve currency as well - and potentially, we could see a surge in adoption of bitcoin as a reserve currency worldwide.

[1BTC EQUALS 1CAR]

That is very interesting to see it happens. Those fiat just only favor few people in the higher status. Everything is under their control and monopoly is their greatest skill. But now bitcoin is here to stop all their madness and their wrongdoings.

[Betwrong]

Although the graph in the article shows rising in weekly trading volume of BTC against Argentine peso(ARS), this volume is still very small compared to that of other National Currencies. Currently the daily BTC/ARS exchange volume takes 48th place with only 0.0001 % of the total trading volume. For those who are interested in more detailed information here's the link:

https://www.coinhills.com/market/currency/

Certainly there can't be any impact on Bitcoin price, considering that the volume is so low. But if the Central Bank of one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America will start buying BTC diversifying their currency reserves, the situation may change significantly. We'll see.

I feel like this is the case with nearly any news about investors moving to Bitcoin in some countries as a reaction to negative economic events - it always end up with having no impact because the volume is only a tiny fraction of Bitcoin's total volume. I'd only pay attention to countries with big Bitcoin trading volume if I wanted to make some predictions on the potential price changes from certain news.

I agree, regular citizens of Argentina can hardly make an impact on BTC price by their actions. But if the Argentina's Central Bank decided to convert a part of its Foreign Exchange Reserves, which currently amount to over 46 billion USD, into Bitcoin the situation would be different. Unfortunately I don't speak Spanish and maybe that's why I can't find more reliable sources, but at least several English language news sites, including the one from the OP, are talking about such possibility.

[hatshepsut93]

I agree, regular citizens of Argentina can hardly make an impact on BTC price by their actions. But if the Argentina's Central Bank decided to convert a part of its Foreign Exchange Reserves, which currently amount to over 46 billion USD, into Bitcoin the situation would be different. Unfortunately I don't speak Spanish and maybe that's why I can't find more reliable sources, but at least several English language news sites, including the one from the OP, are talking about such possibility.

We are yet to see some major positive news that are coming from governments, so far we've only seen governments banning or restricting Bitcoin, and most of the time there was very little reaction, especially in long term. It will be very interesting to see how the market will react to something like a central bank adopting Bitcoin, Bitcoin markets can be very sensitive to bullish news (like it happened with starbucks recently), but ultimately I think the same principle holds - the reaction is proportionate to the influence of a government.

[stompix]

Although the graph in the article shows rising in weekly trading volume of BTC against Argentine peso(ARS), this volume is still very small compared to that of other National Currencies. Currently the daily BTC/ARS exchange volume takes 48th place with only 0.0001 % of the total trading volume.

Switching from pesos to BTC





21 BTC volume per month?  Investors flocking?  
God, some people are desperate for bullish news

Even though the stats on localbitcoins may be a bit skewed based on the fact that they are based on Argentine Pesos, which is depreciating at a rapid rate at the moment, the general trend is still there of adoption of bitcoin as a safe haven within this country.

Any real numbers on this?

[rodskee]

No doubt that's digital cryptocurrency bitcoin is the sloution for the economic crisis
Is been to long discussing herein forum bitcoin is one of the ways helping for the economy growth of every country if they acceot and legalised bitcoin as currency
And according to the news 12 ATM machine for cryptocurrency installed at different place in argentina
This a good for all of us even if peso cuurny of argentina isn't enough value to recover the bitcoin proce
This news will to the community about this news to become strong at this time of crisis of bitcoin price

[vy99]

Yeah the only reason Argentina's financial crisis isn't making bigger news is because it's being overshadowed by the financial crisis in Venezuela...but the inflation in Argentina is getting to the point where they're basically a lighter version of Venezuela right now.

Argentina needs to turn into Venezuela 2.0 in order to become more news worthy. I haven't seen one bit of coverage on Argentina's financial problems locally, but almost daily plenty of Venezuela and its refugees.

You really have to dig into everything yourself if you want to know what's going on in the world, because news outlets only show you what they think is relevant for their income, which is somewhat retarded but also understandable.

It's a business and as long as that is the case, we'll have to accept that these things happen. I'm glad that everything is just a couple of clicks away on the internet, so we don't depend on them to feed us news.

You're not hearing about Argentina because Venezuela is so bad that they're overshadowing everything. It's like comparing a company that's losing $5 million versus a company that's losing $25 million...everyone will talk only about the company that's losing $25 million but it doesn't mean the other company isn't doing badly.

But I agree, you have to search for news nowadays and not just rely on what the media feeds us. The truth is that Argentina's inflation is really bad and they're on the verge of an economic crisis...so it's smart that they're turning to Bitcoin now before it's too late.