Creative Translation: “Argentinians Embrace Bitcoin to Hedge Against Inflation, Major Exchange Witnesses 20-Month Record High in Bitcoin Purchases”

Creative Translation: "Argentinians Embrace Bitcoin to Hedge Against Inflation, Major Exchange Witnesses 20-Month Record High in Bitcoin Purchases"

Creative Translation: "Argentinians Embrace Bitcoin to Hedge Against Inflation, Major Exchange Witnesses 20-Month Record High in Bitcoin Purchases"

According to Bloomberg, Argentines are buying Bitcoin to protect themselves from the impact of a 276% inflation rate and are no longer eager to exchange their local currency, the peso, for US dollars. The Bitcoin purchase volume on Lemon, the most popular cryptocurrency exchange among retail customers, has reached its highest weekly level in 20 months.
During the implementation of shock therapy policies by Argentine President Javier Milei, aimed at resetting the economy, local residents are finding ways to cope with economic recession and one of the world’s highest inflation rates. The main “safe haven” of converting pesos to dollars, which has been popular for decades, has lost some appeal in the past two months as the parallel exchange rate for the dollar has increased by 10%, while Bitcoin has increased by nearly 60% relative to the dollar during the same period.
One of the main driving factors behind the recent strength of the peso is Milei’s strict control over the circulation of currency, preventing it from growing while the central bank rebuilds its cash reserves.
In the week ending March 10, Lemon recorded nearly 35,000 customer transactions purchasing Bitcoin, which is twice the average weekly trading volume last year. Similar behavior has been observed in other major Argentine exchanges such as Ripio and Belo.
Manuel Beaudroit, CEO of digital wallet company Belo, stated in an interview that the company’s trading volume of Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) has increased tenfold compared to the same period last year. He pointed out that due to the rise in Bitcoin, more buyers are attracted, and the purchase rate of stablecoins has decreased from 70% to 60% during this period.
Beaudroit stated:
Against the backdrop of the surge in Bitcoin, Argentines are now reducing some of their US dollar savings and starting to choose investment options. However, the number of reports regarding cryptocurrency scams in the country has also increased fivefold in February. Gabriela Battiato, legal representative of the Argentine non-governmental organization Bitcoin Argentina, stated: