Argentina

Argentina has had twelve currency crises in the last century. The peso has lost more than 99% of its value against the dollar since 1983.

For Argentines, the question of how to store savings is not abstract. It is one of the most practical financial decisions a person can make. The wrong answer — holding pesos — means watching savings evaporate. The right answer, historically, has been dollars. But accessing dollars is complicated by government currency controls.

Bitcoin entered this equation not as a speculation but as a store of value in a country where the local currency cannot serve that function.

Ordinary Argentines — teachers, shopkeepers, taxi drivers — began converting portions of their wages to Bitcoin on payday. Not because they understood the technology deeply, but because they understood inflation deeply. Any asset whose supply cannot be inflated by a government decree looked attractive against a peso losing 10-15% of its value per month.

In late 2023, Argentina elected Javier Milei, an economist who described himself as an admirer of Austrian economics and who had spoken positively about Bitcoin and dollarisation. His election triggered a surge in Bitcoin adoption among Argentines who saw alignment between the new administration’s monetary philosophy and Bitcoin’s design.

Argentina’s relationship with Bitcoin is a living demonstration of the asset’s core value proposition — not as a technology for enthusiasts, but as a monetary escape valve for people trapped in broken currency systems.

The Cantillon Effect, covered back in Phase 1, hits Argentines harder and faster than almost anyone else on earth.

Tomorrow: Turkey — 80% inflation and Bitcoin as the escape.

— The Daily Bit