In view of the recent financial crisis, the price of bitcoin has risen sharply in Argentina.
In fact, according to data from the Argentine exchange SatoshiTango, the price of bitcoin in the country is significantly higher compared to the rest of the world.
The same site reveals that a BTC is worth about 10,500 dollars at the time of writing this article, it is the price in Argentinian pesos that has taken off, reaching almost 730,000 ARS.
By converting them into dollars, 730,000 ARS is equivalent to more than 12,500 USD, which means that on the same Argentine exchange those who buy bitcoin with dollars will be paying the same amount as in the rest of the world, while those who buy bitcoin with Argentine pesos will be paying almost 20% more.
In recent months, LocalBitcoins has also seen a massive increase in trading volumes in Argentine peso, mainly due to inflation which has now exceeded 50%.
The recent increase in the price of bitcoin in Argentina is probably due to capital control measures, recently introduced to minimise capital flight.
The Argentine government, in fact, has recently announced new restrictions on the purchase of US dollars, imposing a limit of $10,000 on free purchases. In the case of higher amounts, authorisation from the country’s central bank is required.
This mainly affects companies that operate abroad, so much so that those who make purchases in other countries for amounts exceeding $10,000 must obtain permission from the central bank.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, has none of these limitations, so it’s easy to imagine that if the US dollars cannot be used, bitcoin is the ideal alternative.
It is also worth noting that the Argentine peso is not commonly accepted as a means of payment abroad. In the last 12 months, the value of the peso has fallen from about $0.025 to $0.017, with a loss of more than 30%. Over the last 30 days alone, the loss has been around 22%, causing many problems, especially for Argentinians who buy goods from abroad.
