Stablecoin Buying Rises in Argentina as Peso Tumbles
Industry insiders claim Argentina is experiencing a rise in stablecoin buying as black market dollar market prices spiral upward.
Per Globo, the nation is in the grips of the “worst political crisis in 21 years,” with hyperinflation eating up the value of the fiat peso.
Last week, Bloomberg reported:
“The official [dollar exchange] rate is 287 pesos per dollar, while the black market trades at about 600 pesos on the streets of Buenos Aires.”
The government has capped foreign currency buying at $200 a month per person since 2019, a factor that has led many savers to the black markets.
But with dollar bills in short supply in Argentina, some have instead turned to USD-pegged stablecoins.
Globo quoted Sebastian Serrano, the founder of the Brazilian crypto trading platform Ripio, as stating that the firm’s own dollar-pegged token was “trading at 726 pesos on Friday, August 18.”
That figure is “5.3% less” than some Argentine citizens were paying for the so-called “blue dollar,” the nation’s unofficial black market exchange rate on the same day.
The media outlet added that Argentines tend to use stablecoins to protect the value of their savings, rather than as a tool for making payments.
But Globo also reported that some citizens use the coins to “buy airline tickets” and pay for “shipments.”
And, it noted, many people who “work remotely for foreign companies are paid in crypto.”
Indeed, more freelancers in the country than ever before are reportedly asking employers to pay them in crypto, rather than fiat.
Serrano claimed that demand for Ripio’s USD-pegged coin has “increased x4” since the presidential primary elections earlier this month.
The primaries saw the Libertad Avanza candidate Javier Milei scoop almost 33% of the vote, making
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