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Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by miohtama on Monday May 15, 2023 @06:12PM (#35955217)
Obligatory downvote comment:

Bitcoin hits all-time high against Argentinian peso

https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/5bae64b6-9398-4...

On why Argentina can’t fix their economy:

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/08/15/argentina-imf-debt-mass...

Argentina was the 5th richest country in the world in early 20th century.

Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by sc2862 on Monday May 15, 2023 @06:30PM (#35955386)
> Bitcoin hits all-time high against Argentinian peso

You know what else also hit an all-time high against the Argentinian peso? Cans of tomatoes, airline tickets, Bosch dishwashers... basically everything because that's how inflation works

Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by gtirloni on Monday May 15, 2023 @06:22PM (#35955302)
> Bitcoin hits all-time high against Argentinian peso

I have friends in Argentina. You know how they are protecting against inflation? Good old US dollars.

Yes, the government is making that harder every day but there are (very time consuming) ways around that.

Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by ChuckNorris89 on Monday May 15, 2023 @06:34PM (#35955430)
>I have friends in Argentina. You know how they are protecting against inflation? Good old US dollars

Yeah, go pay for bred at the store with Bitcoin in Argentina. How much is the transaction fee again? /s

I'm also smiling when the crypto bros are shilling Bitcoin for the millionth time as an anti-inflation snake oil, when the USD was used back in the '90s in Eastern Europe for this, and is still used in Russia for the same scope today.

Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by kobalsky on Monday May 15, 2023 @07:55PM (#35956148)
I'm from Argentina.

Buying dollars outside the pittance allowed by the government is illegal, so that's not what we are using to buy bread either.

The people selling bread don't know what crypto is so yeah, you will use fiat for "last mile" payments most of the time.

However, crypto is being broadly used here, I know people who have been receving 100% of their salaries in crypto for years now.

Most of the people doing freelance work will resort to some type of cryptocurrency, otherwise when you get paid you automatically lose 50% of your money. The banks, on behalf of the government, will take your USD and give you ARS at half the real exchange rate.

Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by ChuckNorris89 on Tuesday May 16, 2023 @05:37AM (#35959513)
>Buying dollars outside the pittance allowed by the government is illegal

Authoritarian governments stealing your foreign currency out of your bank accounts are orthogonal issues to USD being a good anti-inflation currency.

Growing up in post-Communist Eastern Europe, everyone was using USD but the banks or governments wasn't touching them. People exchanged USD on the black/gray market and storing them at home in safes or various hidden ways. No government and no banks. It worked quite well while it lasted.

Then the Euro came and our own currency got pegged to that so it's less common today except for expensive items like fancy cars or real estate.

Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by TT2048 on Tuesday May 16, 2023 @07:35AM (#35960357)
With global inflation so high, USD is no longer a good store of value.
Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by ChuckNorris89 on Tuesday May 16, 2023 @07:57AM (#35960578)
Except we're talking about currencies here, because they are meant to be traded, not stores of value. It's impractical to buy bread at the bakery with stores of value like real estate or gold.

And since we're off-topic anyway, there is no global fixed inflation for everyone but each currency has seen a completely different value of inflation, and USD inflation is far lower than most other currencies that saw proper inflation.

You're far far better off having your savings in USD than Turkish lira or Argentinian pesos or Russians rubles or even Hungarian Forints. USD inflation is a joke in comparison.

Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by chrisco255 on Tuesday May 16, 2023 @07:50PM (#35969400)
A money has to be three things: a Store of Value, a Medium of Exchange, and a Unit of Account. Store of value is definitely in the job description:

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/economics/money-and...

Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by rexShinka on Tuesday May 16, 2023 @11:28AM (#35963172)
Hi kobalsky, this is Rex at DeFiSafety. We would like to support crypto users like you and improve our product to help you. Please reach out at [email protected]
Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by meltedcapacitor on Tuesday May 16, 2023 @01:33PM (#35965102)
Are the rumours that "crypto" in Argentina is just everybody being on the Binance app true? (Let's hope not!)
Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by jviotti on Thursday May 18, 2023 @04:21PM (#35993556)
Very true. I'm Argentinean but have been living abroad for a very long time. Early on my career, I did freelance work, and indeed got paid in Bitcoins.
Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by timbit42 on Monday May 15, 2023 @08:12PM (#35956280)
Transaction fees are very low on Bitcoin's Lightning Network.
Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by ChuckNorris89 on Tuesday May 16, 2023 @08:08AM (#35960686)
How many Argentinian supermarkets use Bitcoin Lighting network for payment processing?
Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by ValleyOfTheMtns on Tuesday May 16, 2023 @08:59AM (#35961257)
Very few: https://btcmap.org/map#4/-36.84446/-66.35742

But that’s not really the point though, is it?

As the earlier poster from Argentina said, pesos are used for the “last mile”. Whoever you’re trading sats for pesos with are likely to be familiar with Lightning and willing to do the trade with it because it’s fast and cheap.

As for the issue of broader adoption, that’s just a matter of education, trust, time, and the right incentives to make the switch in a hyperinflationary environment…

Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by quickthrowman on Monday May 15, 2023 @06:23PM (#35955318)
> Bitcoin hits all-time high against Argentinian peso

The same thing is true for the US Dollar, it’s also at an ATH vs the Argentine Peso. It’s also substantially less volatile than BTC.

[dead]
Re:Argentina raises interest rate to 97% as it struggles to ... by timerol on Monday May 15, 2023 @06:25PM (#35955329)
Please don't summon a strawman or 3 in your comments here