Bitcoin becoming a safehaven currency in Argentina

[BigBoy89]

I guess the workaround is buying bitcoin and then taking a trip to another country where you can cash out in dollars using local bitcoins.

It's not just Argentina. It's applicable to every county with a local crisis or high inflation.
I was thinking about the same stuff a few years ago. It is too risky for me.

1. You need to operate with over 100K-200K USD in coins. Or the airplane tickets and other amendments will eat your profit.
2. Being nobody in such a country and operating with such amount of cash on a daily/weekly basis... very dangerous.
3. Every Localbitcoins deal could end up as scam or get you beat (or even worst)
4. Customs problems and local authority bribing. Again eating your profit.

[AliMan]

These economic crisis are really getting worse and deepening by the day. I wonder what an average person will don with just $100 per month limit, that's too low, it's like dictating for people how to live their lives and how to spend their hard earned money.
In all this is just opening more doors for crypto adoption. As fiat get weaker, we get stronger.

In this situation with fiat that's getting weaker, every people tend to switch or divert their asset with crypto when government cannot handle pressures over their people. When a person isn't comfortable with how the government regulate their currency, finding another alternatives is a good options just to make their asset sustainable and feasible to earn some passive income. Their mindsets now is moving to a new wave of financial independence, in which government is out of control due to decentralized matter.

[tsaroz]

Bitcoin is a universal currency which is easily available for anyone around the world. It's the only true global currency and whenever people find it hard to believe in their own currency, bitcoin would always come to rescue. Bitcoin is independent of ponzi created by the IMF. Let the whole world trade in and out with bitcoin ditching fiat for once and all.

[realaccountakira]

I wonder why traders on those argentinian exchange don't just switch to internation exchanges like Binance. If bitcoin is trading at a premium of $10k++ when it's only around ~$9k+ on the global market, why buy premium?

I think arbitrage can't be done if they're limiting exchanges users to argentinians but on the flip side why don't they just buy cheaper from global markets. 

[huige007]

Bitcoin is a universal currency which is easily available for anyone around the world. It's the only true global currency and whenever people find it hard to believe in their own currency, bitcoin would always come to rescue. Bitcoin is independent of ponzi created by the IMF. Let the whole world trade in and out with bitcoin ditching fiat for once and all.

Any person with the access of internet can become owner of bitcoin. This is one of the beautiful things about bitcoin. It treats every single person with equality. No discrimination on the basis of region, religion or color. All the holders get same sort of treatment from bitcoin. That time is not far away when your this wish of getting rid of fiat will be fulfilled. We are moving towards the era of bitcoin.

[Memminger]

Bitcoin is a universal currency which is easily available for anyone around the world. It's the only true global currency and whenever people find it hard to believe in their own currency, bitcoin would always come to rescue. Bitcoin is independent of ponzi created by the IMF. Let the whole world trade in and out with bitcoin ditching fiat for once and all.

Any person with the access of internet can become owner of bitcoin. This is one of the beautiful things about bitcoin. It treats every single person with equality. No discrimination on the basis of region, religion or color. All the holders get same sort of treatment from bitcoin. That time is not far away when your this wish of getting rid of fiat will be fulfilled. We are moving towards the era of bitcoin.

Why would you think that fiat would be replaced? I don’t really think that fiat would be replaced really since it has its uses and is vital to our economy. Well it is possible that it would be deeply inetegrated into our daily living in the future but I can’t envision that in our life that fiat would be nowhere.

[alyssa85]

I wonder why traders on those argentinian exchange don't just switch to internation exchanges like Binance. If bitcoin is trading at a premium of $10k++ when it's only around ~$9k+ on the global market, why buy premium?

I think arbitrage can't be done if they're limiting exchanges users to argentinians but on the flip side why don't they just buy cheaper from global markets. 

Because Binance doesn't accept the argentinian peso. They'd have to somehow buy dollars FIRST before using Binance.

And the problem in Argentina is that you can't get hold of dollars.

[Lucius]

Because Binance doesn't accept the argentinian peso. They'd have to somehow buy dollars FIRST before using Binance.
And the problem in Argentina is that you can't get hold of dollars.

What you say now is in complete opposition to the OP. Every Argentinian can buy max $300 every month since this is a new limit, and as far I know Argentina is not on Binance blacklist. In practice, it would then be possible to open an account there and trade by using some of Binance deposit methods listed here.

But this whole story about safe-haven currency falls into the water if we consider the average incomes in Argentina. Most have just enough money to cover their basic living expenses, and for most, investing in Bitcoin is something they can't afford.

[audaciousbeing]

https://www.newsbtc.com/2019/10/30/bitcoin-trades-at-large-premium-in-argentina-as-dollar-purchase-restrictions-set-in/

Bitcoin is trading at a large premium on cryptocurrency exchanges in Argentina. Demand remains high after the nation’s central bank announced a further tightening of a limit on the number of dollars an individual can purchase from it each month.

The policy essentially forces the people of Argentina to either sink of swim in an economy with a less than perfect track record. Well, it would, were it not for Bitcoin.

According to data taken from local cryptocurrency exchange Ripio, Bitcoin is trading at a large premium in Argentina. Whereas Coinmarketcap has the price of the leading digital asset at around $9,150 at the time of writing, Bitcoin is currently selling at the South American trading venue for ARS$633,862 ($10,578).

The nation has been in the grips of successive economic crises which have seen the value of the peso plummet. In an attempt to stabilise the currency, the central bank first limited the amount of dollars an individual could purchase each month to $10,000 in September. Just days ago, it drastically increased this restriction to just $100 in physical bank notes per month.

I guess the workaround is buying bitcoin and then taking a trip to another country where you can cash out in dollars using local bitcoins.

The margin here is something an Argentina citizen can take advantage of or contact a friend outside Argentina to make a deal and since bitcoin breaks the barrier that comes with location or nationality, it becomes super easy to carry out such transaction.

I don't think people are seeing bitcoin as a safe haven there despite the premium its trading. Rather, they are only having a surge in activity which makes demand more than supply thereby increasing the price and that is why the ripple effect is still not being felt outside Argentina where it is and I think its because of the limitation being place by their central bank which makes transacting internationally difficult.

[abhiseshakana]

Bitcoin is a universal currency which is easily available for anyone around the world. It's the only true global currency and whenever people find it hard to believe in their own currency, bitcoin would always come to rescue. Bitcoin is independent of ponzi created by the IMF. Let the whole world trade in and out with bitcoin ditching fiat for once and all.

I do not agree with you. Bitcoin is not a universal currency, indeed its use is general but many countries prohibit the use of bitcoin as a means of payment, if there are loopholes in other countries not recognizing it as a legal payment instrument then there is no legal guarantee covering transactions using bitcoin.

Bitcoin is not easily available for anyone around the world. Many people do not know what bitcoin is and what blockchain is because many older generations do not know the world of financial technology. In addition, many countries do not have internet access to come into contact with blockchain technology.

Some of the weaknesses of bitcoin that we should pay attention to:
- Bitcoin acceptance and adoption is still minimal because actually bitcoin is an asset, not money.
- The value is very volatile.
- Prone to disappear due to human error.
- Scammers and criminals could use Bitcoin for their actions.

[alyssa85]

[quote iauthor=audaciousbeing link=topic=5197526.msg52980281#msg52980281 date=1572879524]

The margin here is something an Argentina citizen can take advantage of or contact a friend outside Argentina to make a deal and since bitcoin breaks the barrier that comes with location or nationality, it becomes super easy to carry out such transaction.

[/quote]

If it was that easy to do, the premium would have disappeared already. In most markets pricing anomalies are eliminated within days by speculators taking advantage of the arbitrage opportunity.

If a premium persists it's because it's too difficult to take advantage of it. In this case the person outside Argentina buys the bitcoin, sends it to the Argentinian who then sells it for dollars at a premium - but cannot withdraw more than $100. So it only works on really small amounts.

[cotton ball]

Bitcoin is a universal currency which is easily available for anyone around the world. It's the only true global currency and whenever people find it hard to believe in their own currency, bitcoin would always come to rescue. Bitcoin is independent of ponzi created by the IMF. Let the whole world trade in and out with bitcoin ditching fiat for once and all.

Bitcoin is very safe haven assets where ever you come from not only in Argentina but almost country have safety for saving bitcoin during you safe with correct wallet, but argentina have potential become friendly country for using bitcoin because they try for legal bitcoin s currency payment, only Argentina on Latin American country look serious with bitcoin as currency payment.

[Barbut]

It's happening, and some people predicted that Bitcoin will be a safe haven for many people who are sick from the banking sector. One by one country will start turning to cryptocurrencies, and people will turn to the safest and the best one, Bitcoin.
Let's wait for some time and see which country will be the next one. Can anyone predict from which country we will receive news about adoption in the next few months?

[alexsandria]

Sounds like an easy thing though. Worth trying if you brought a big bag of crypto to cash out in Argentina. Besides is it even legit? I thought that Bitcoin market cap price are all the same around the world. In addition is there even a way to cash it out like requesting it to someone on your behalf, and would be deliver it out to you. But sounds like not real though, well, those are just my thoughts.

[abeecrypto]

This is not surprising at all. Why wouldn’t they go for Bitcoin? When the countries Fiat is crumbling on its head, one has to hide someplace safe. I think more countries will start joining the league, as lots of countries are in so much economic crisis.
Having said all that, I wonder what will become of countries like Argentina if more people begin to take cover with Bitcoin. How will that affect their economic condition? How would the Government react?

[davinchi]

Bitcoin is a universal currency which is easily available for anyone around the world. It's the only true global currency and whenever people find it hard to believe in their own currency, bitcoin would always come to rescue. Bitcoin is independent of ponzi created by the IMF. Let the whole world trade in and out with bitcoin ditching fiat for once and all.

Bitcoin is very safe haven assets where ever you come from not only in Argentina but almost country have safety for saving bitcoin during you safe with correct wallet, but argentina have potential become friendly country for using bitcoin because they try for legal bitcoin s currency payment, only Argentina on Latin American country look serious with bitcoin as currency payment.

The part B of your statement is not different from what the op is saying too, because Argentina has been a cryptocurrency friendly country and this make the op refer to it as safe haven, majority of their citizens would be without any fear of actually using cryptocurrency for their trades which I believe that the government of Argentina too will also be involved in using it to make trades to grow their economy.

The only thing that they have not very much accepted as other countries too have not accepted is the use of it as currency first and I think before they can really accept it as currency, virtually all countries would have to come together as one to actually decide in if they are confidence in using it as global currency or not and that is the only way it can become a safe haven everywhere.

[Sithara007]

It's not just Argentina. It's applicable to every county with a local crisis or high inflation.
I was thinking about the same stuff a few years ago. It is too risky for me.

1. You need to operate with over 100K-200K USD in coins. Or the airplane tickets and other amendments will eat your profit.
2. Being nobody in such a country and operating with such amount of cash on a daily/weekly basis... very dangerous.
3. Every Localbitcoins deal could end up as scam or get you beat (or even worst)
4. Customs problems and local authority bribing. Again eating your profit.

I really doubt whether many users have that much coins in their wallets. Especially in countries such as Venezuela and Argentina, common people have witnessed their wealth get eroded to a fraction of the former self during the past few years. But do they really need 200K USD in cryptocurrency? For example, the Argentines can travel to Uruguay in train and it costs less than $100. The entire region is monolingual Spanish, and therefore they should not find much issues in finding a buyer or a seller.

[el kaka22]

Bitcoins' decentralization is the whole purpose we use it, no person can change the way bitcoin is all by themselves, of course there are democratic ways we could do something about bitcoin like changing to segwit for example but that doesn't mean it is centralized, we as the people decided upon that as a whole and that is why it is a good method, it is not unchangeable fully stuck in 10 years ago type of code, it can be changed but it is also not in the control of just one person, it all depends on us and how we use the blockchain to vote on what we want to achieve and want to change with the code.

Hence, Argentina and all other places that have weak currencies can easily switch to bitcoin so that people could actually own a currency that can't be going down in value because of some idiot presidents bad moves.

[alyssa85]

The Argentinian Central Bank is now putting restrictions on the purchase of bitcoin:

https://u.today/bitcoin-trading-volume-hits-new-ath-in-argentina-after-central-bank-banned-purchasing-crypto-with

In order to preserve its foreign exchange reserves, the Central Bank of Argentina (BCA) barred its citizens from buying cryptocurrencies with credit or debit cards on Oct. 31. From now on, cryptocurrency investors are only able to transfer funds from their bank accounts.

To give you an idea of how worthless the Argentinian Peso is, Google says 1 Argentinian Peso = 0.0000018 bitcoin.

Thats right: 1 Argentinian Peso = 180 satoshi.

[mazdafunsun]

For a while now, local bitcoins does not have the cash payment possibilty.
That doe snot mean that there are not other services that offer that option. This is normal for economies where they restrict buying other countries currency while their is depreciating, very irresponsible move from bank.