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- Argentina took the 15th position in the Chainalysis 2023 Global Crypto Adoption Index.
- Milei belongs to a long line of politicians who are increasingly embracing crypto.
Argentina has elected pro-Bitcoin candidate Javier Milei as its new president, Reuters reported. He received around 56% of the vote, compared to just over 44% for his rival Sergio Massa.
Argentina faces high inflation and poverty; these issues dominated the election. Milei has criticized the country’s central bank for the economic problems plaguing the country.
He called the central bank a “scam” through which politicians exploit the masses with inflation taxes.
Argentine peso (ARS) included more than a 140% increase in annual inflation over the past twelve months.
Why Argentina has quickly adopted crypto
Chain analysis recently put down Argentina ranks 15th in the 2023 Global Crypto Adoption Index. Among Latin American countries, only Brazil was ahead of Argentina – the former ranked 9the position.
Chain analysis published an October report that sheds light on crypto trends in Latin America. It highlighted that cryptocurrency purchases in Argentina were on an upward trend as the peso steadily lost value.
Inflation really peaked in mid-April, around the time of the Argentine inflation 100% exceeded for the first time in three decades.
Source: Chain analysis
There was a small dip in crypto purchases starting in September, shortly after the peso’s value stabilized.
It is clear that the instability around the peso is causing a large portion of Argentinians to opt for crypto.
Crypto-friendly politicians come from all over America
Argentina’s new president is among the emerging list of politicians embracing Bitcoin and the broader crypto ecosystem as an alternative model of the national economy. But Milei’s policies do not come close to those of Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador.
In 2021, Bukele introduced Bitcoin [BTC] as legal tender in the Central American country. The move sparked loud criticism from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other global financial institutions. But Bukele did not back away from his belief in crypto.
In the United States, Vivek Ramaswamy has become the leading proponent of crypto. Ramaswamy is the most popular Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential elections after Donald Trump.
Ramaswamy announced that he was working on a “comprehensive crypto policy framework” at a crypto conference in September. His campaign is accepting Bitcoin donations, as he announced in May.
Just announced that we officially accept it #Bitcoin donations.
Give $1.
Let’s turn the 2024 election into a referendum on fiat money. https://t.co/KrHJdomtCh pic.twitter.com/OkVmoBmTFz— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) May 20, 2023
Indira Kempis is a Mexican senator known for introducing crypto legislation into the country’s parliament. First, she proposed a central bank digital currency (CBDC) bill last year.
After facing heavy criticism, she decided to accept Bitcoin as legal tender. The account has faced intense criticism in the crypto community. A few months ago, Kempis announced her intention to become the first woman to become a presidential candidate in Mexico.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin showed no signs of slowing down as it traded well above the $37,000 mark at the time of writing.
Source: BTC/USD, TradingView