Tether and Circle Stablecoin Purchases Dominate in Argentina

Argentina,
the
nation
which
recently
elected
self-described
“anarcho-capitalist”
Javier
Milei
as
president,
has
the
largest
purchases
and
holdings
of
stablecoins
in
Latin
America
over
the
past
six
months,

according
to
a
report
by
Mexican-founded
crypto
exchange
Bitso.

Dealing
with
a
severe
economic
crisis
and
plunging
peso,
60%
of
Argentine
crypto
purchases
on
Bitso
were
for
dollar-based
stablecoins
USDT
and
USDC
and
just
13%
of
buys
were
for
bitcoin.

This
compares
to
Colombia,
Brazil
and
Mexico,
where
stablecoin
purchases
ranged
between
31%
and
40%
of
total
crypto
buys.

Argentines
were
responding
to
current
“political
and
economic
context,
which
has
promoted
the
acquisition
of
stablecoins
as
an
alternative
to
inflation
and
devaluation,”
said
Bitso.

Argentina
is
Latin
America’s
second-largest
country
by
population
and
third-largest
economy
but
has
long
suffered
from
economic
troubles.
The
nation’s
annual
inflation
rate
soared
to
211.4%
in
2023.
A
Chainalysis

report
in
2023
found
that
Argentina
is
second
in
Latin
America
for
crypto
adoption
and
15th
in
the
world.

Though
stopping
short
of
a
full
endorsement
of
Bitcoin
the
country’s
new
president
has
made
some
friendly
overtures,
calling
it
“the
return
of
money
to
its
original
creator,
the
private
sector.”
Milei
has
also
called
central
banking
“a
scam.”

According
to
Bitso,
the
exchange
has
over
8
million
users
across
Latin
America.