Published
4 months ago on
December 22, 2023
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Argentina’s Minister of Foreign Relations and International Commerce posted on social media a decree legalizing specific currencies in contract settling that would apply to Bitcoin.
Diana Mondino, Argentina’s newly appointed foreign minister, announced on X that Argentina's “ratified and confirmed” contracts can be settled in Bitcoin.
Crypto to Settle Contracts
According to Mondino’s December 21 X post, the Argentine government passed a decree aimed at economic reform and deregulation, which would allow the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies under certain conditions.
Argentina passed the “Bases for the Reconstruction of the Argentine Economy” decree on December 20. The decree did not specifically mention bitcoin and crypto but did include conditions that debtors may pay to settle contracts in currencies not recognised in the country as legal tender.
Mondino said on X (translated):
“We ratify and confirm that in Argentina contracts can be settled in Bitcoin.”
Adding;
“And also any other crypto.”
Mondino explained that “anything like kilos of steer or litres of milk” may be paid using crypto.
According to Article 1196 of the decree:
“The parties have the liberty to specify the amounts and the type of currency used for the bond or security deposit, as well as the method for its reimbursement upon the lease’s conclusion.”
Argentina Elects Pro-Bitcoin President
The country recently elected pro-bitcoin Javier Milei as its next president. Milei took office on December 10 after winning over 55% of the votes. Argentina has been crippled by rising inflation, while the Argentine Peso registered a 140% increase in annual inflation over the past year. Almost 40% of the population lives in poverty, and inflation is 150%. The topic of Bitcoin has been introduced to address the country’s battling economy. However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently forced the Argentine central bank to guarantee it would not entertain bitcoin. At the time, President Milei called the central a scam and said in an interview:
“The problem is that governments are not going to want to give up compulsory use of fiat currency. Bitcoin is the natural reaction to central bank fraud, but allowing money to become private once more isn’t something the thieving politicians will allow.”
President Milei’s election could not come at a better time as Argentina just managed to avoid default with the help of China and the Latin American Development Bank.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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