Bitcoin is, without a question, the world’s most prominent digital asset. Global awareness scratched its ceiling in 2018, when the cryptocurrency reached almost $19,000 in price. That number came down and is now hovering around $4,000, but currently, nearly everybody is familiarized with Bitcoin and its potential effects in the world economy.
Speaking of Bitcoin’s impact in the society, the famous crypto bull Tim Draper recently stated, in an interview with a prominent specialized news site, that the digital asset held the potential of significantly improving a country’s economy. That nation is Argentina, and to achieve more financial stability, authorities need to legalize BTC, according to the investor and entrepreneur.
The flamboyant Venture Capital investor met with Mauricio Macri, who is the current President of Argentina, recently in order to discuss the financial and economic situation and future prospects of the South American country. Bitcoin, naturally, was apparently a hot theme.
The Collapsing Argentine Peso
Argentina is enduring a quick process of devaluation of its national currency, the Argentine peso (ARS.) Each dollar was worth 20 ARS around this time last year, whereas right now the USD is worth 41,9 pesos. The situation is being closely monitored by the Argentine community, as it tends to abruptly change for the worse day in and day out.
According to Draper, “we were speaking of Bitcoin and the devaluation of the peso, and I proposed a bet: if the peso would be valued more than Bitcoin, I would double my investment that I was making for the country. But if Bitcoin gained a higher rate than the peso, they would have to declare it as a national currency. That would be a perfect decision, as there’s a lack of confidence in this coin.”
After the meeting took place, the venture capital specialist explained in the interview that he thinks that Bitcoin and the blockchain technology are more “revolutionary” than the Internet itself, which is saying a lot. Bitcoin adoption would, according to Draper, substantially help Argentina, since it will bring evolution when it comes to commerce, financial systems, and banking platforms.
Reiterating Bitcoin Hopes
Draper took advantage of the opportunity and reiterated his positive stance towards Bitcoin, saying that he still believes the world’s premier crypto asset will trade around $250,000 in a period of 3-4 years from now, accounting for nearly 5% of the global share of markets as a whole.
The remaining obstacle that prevents Bitcoin from being a truly global mean of payment and commercialization, at least according to Draper, is its lack of use as a widespread national currency, like the pesos or dollars. When people start using it like the mentioned currencies, people will pick BTC “because it is decentralized and open, frictionless and global.”
Draper is famous around the industry for his extreme pro-crypto stance. In fact, he made the news in February when he stated that he believed fiat money will be used only by criminals in five years from now.
Bitcoin, meanwhile, is struggling to break the $4,000 barrier for good for the first time since the dreaded collapse of mid-November. On November 15th, 2018, BTC started a slide that took the price from more than $6,000 to barely over $3,000 in a span of a few weeks. Since then, it has temporarily reached $4,000, only to lose some points again.
However, at the moment of writing this piece, BTC was been traded at $4,005.54, down 0.36 percent in the last 24 hours but finally over the “hump.” It remains to be seen if the gains can be maintained.
Argentina has shown a pro-crypto and blockchain stance. For example, the government co-invested in blockchain projects made by Binance Labs and LatamEx, a local cryptocurrency exchange, in early March. Also, last month the country completed an export deal with Paraguay in BTC.
By Andres Chavez
