Latin America is currently experiencing difficult situations, with different characteristics according to each country, but with some points in common. Argentina has one of the highest inflation rates worldwide, a heavy tax burden and very strong exchange restrictions. In that regard, Manuel Beaudroit, CMO of Bitex, explained how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are raising interest as an alternative to fiat currencies.
The executive believes that where there is a crisis, there is an opportunity. The fact that people cannot access the dollar has led them to start buying Bitcoin as a security and use it as an international payment method.
He explained that each market in Latin America has its characteristics. For example, he said that Bitex is in four markets, of which Argentina and Chile are the busiest, followed by Paraguay and Uruguay.
He also reflected that, besides the regulatory front, there is a socio-economic front, which has to do with the activity. He highlighted that all this social revolt means that there is a greater interest in cryptocurrencies, as a way of diversifying sovereign risk. In Argentina, with capital control, people are seeking alternatives to the dollar and they find very specific use in Bitcoin.
Besides, he stressed the noticeable interest of companies in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Among them are those companies having problems to import or export, or those automatically liquidated by exports, which begin to turn to this type of crypto asset to make payments and collections, even at the risk of breaking a regulation.
Regarding the effect of the exchange restrictions on Bitex, he stated that Argentina had a bi-monetary economic system, using US dollars and pesos, until a few months ago. The tight exchange controls dropped the possibility of trading in dollars in Argentina; that is, only pesos are accepted. At first, the community felt uncomfortable but, as the underlying reasons are explained, the truth is that then the volume of pesos rose dramatically. People prefer to sell their dollars, buy pesos and then buy bitcoins with those pesos.
Experiences and Opinions of Different Exchanges
Last year, one of the subjects that aroused the most interest among experts was “How to surf the Latin American crisis as an exchange.” It was revealed that the Latin American scenario for the various exchanges differs in their regulations and/or their political/economic situations.
One of the most prominent things that they discussed was that the crypto ecosystem has a lot of camaraderies, and they were even able to see some particular situations. Pablo González, from Bitso, indicated that the value proposition offered by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are international transfers and the issue of remittances, which already shows a reality of use cases.
One of the ideas that emerged was that if the crypto industry joins, an alternate network can be created as an alternative to banks. However, the CMO of Bitex considered that there was no need to be an alternative to banks, but to have banking partners.
Beaudroit added that his goal is to connect the world with Bitcoin. He believes that it is necessary that the group, twin and gradually infect people in the financial system.
By Alexander Salazar
