newslogical.com
In the face of the coronavirus pandemic which has affected the global economy, Argentina still trades more Bitcoin through LocalBitcoins.
Argentina is battling one of its weirdest economic issues. After over 200 years of independence, the supposed third-largest economy in Latin America has been enmeshed in an avoidable economic quagmire. That is not to say that the country has not witnessed any economic difficulties in the past, in fact, Argentina has a long history of problematic economic reforms and thin treasury.
As the nation continues to find a balance in the face of internal and external shocks that continue to dent its economic and financial pillars, there comes a surge in BTC trading on LocalBitcoins in the country, which is largely resulting from the citizens’ look for a safe haven.
In the past week, the trading of Bitcoin in Argentina rose steeply beyond what was obtained in the past, increasing to a high record of about 101 million Argentina pesos, which is calculated to be around $1.4 million US dollar.
Normally, the weekly BTC sales in Argentina usually fall within the range of 60 to 70 million pesos, as of June 27, Argentina transacted about 59 million pesos worth of Bitcoin. Last week, 92 BTC was traded in contrast to the total record of 228 BTC seen in April 2016.
Even at that, Argentina had not made up to this amount until last week. In a nutshell, the amount of transactions on LocalBitcoin in the country has been on the increase since the end of June.
This financial breakthrough however shouldn’t appear as a shock to the public space, because merchants in the country are putting in necessary efforts to find financial succor as the country’s economy worsens due to COVID-19 and the already existing financial debacle bedeviling the Latin-American nation.
Argentina has been stagnating over the years, even during the time of the country’s former president, Mauricio Macri, whose political and economic maneuvering led the country to an ignoble state.
The new president, Alberto Fernandez, brought several reforms, monetary policies, and economic ideas, yet that has not made any difference but continues to keep the country in a crisis more deep-rooted.
With the downturn world economic crisis and the present economic condition of Argentina, Bitcoin has gained acceptance in the country as a substitute for the country’s fiat currency.
BTC is now so popular that there is currently an indicator referred to as “Bitcoin dollar” which offers the estimated price of the dollar, owing to the cost of Bitcoin in the local markets.
This kind of informal rate for the trading of the black market dollar is also found in Venezuela where economic moves appear to be making the country more poverty-ridden and resulted in merchants requesting for Bitcoin instead of Pesos.