The pact signed by the government of Argentina with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to refinance its debt with the organization, included the demand to stop the progress of the local Bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry. Despite the stir caused in the community that makes life in the sector, recent events seem to indicate that the agreement will soon become law in that country.
As CriptoNoticias has been reporting, last week the agreement text, once it was sent to Congress for discussion. That’s when it was learned that contemplated an anti-Bitcoin provisionwhich literally commits the Government to “discourage” the use of cryptocurrencies in the country.
The arguments for such a request: “safeguard” financial stability and “prevent money laundering, informality and disintermediation”, according to the “Technical Memorandum of Understanding”.
Reports confirmed yesterday, Friday, that after a marathon 14-hour session, the Argentine deputies approved the legal text, which would represent the first endorsement for the implementation of the agreement with the IMF. It was learned that the debate took place in the midst of intense protests by a group of Argentine citizens.
What does the approval of this law imply for the cryptocurrency sector?
Relevant participants in the bitcoin and cryptocurrency ecosystem in Argentina agree that, for now, there is not enough information to get an idea of the repercussions. For now, the outlook looks uncertain.
Last Thursday, the NGO Bitcoin Argentina, a non-profit association focused on education, asked the government to allow access to public information that supports the application of measures on cryptocurrencies. Although specialists believe that most likely the authorities will not respond to the request.
Franco Bianchi, CMO of Lemon, an Argentine startup that offers solutions for payments with cryptocurrencies, told CriptoNoticias that the “ideal scenario would be to work in a context of clear rules that encourage the adoption of crypto assets as some countries are doing, which promoted laws positive about the use of cryptocurrencies.
For his part, Franco Amati, a bitcoiner of great relevance to the Argentine community, commented to this medium that, personally, he is against an agreement with the IMF, due to the implications it has for citizens in terms of taxes and inflation. “The mention of ‘cryptocurrencies’ in the project brings new arguments in this regard,” said Amati.
According to Amati, “the intention is to put as a condition ‘discourage the use of cryptocurrencies’ to prevent thought crimes and even ‘disintermediation’, which only in the bankrupt mind of a bureaucrat can have a negative connotation.” The bitcoiner said he suspected that the IMF “wants to avoid new state financing attempts via Bitcoin like the one in El Salvador.”
What could the Argentine bitcoin and cryptocurrency community do?
Bianchi appeals to the Argentine community has reached an important level of adoption, and that the country is called to be “the world capital of crypto”. In his opinion, this is evidenced by facts such as the fact that the tickets to see Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, live during his visit to Argentina, sold out in just 3 minutes.
“The industry is also growing a lot and we work together from the Argentine Chamber of Fintech. Cryptocurrency users themselves in Argentina are going to promote their use due to the advantages of the Argentine economic context,” said the Lemon executive.
Franco Amati, for his part, believes that it is better to wait. «We will see in the coming months how much the Argentine government complicates the startups, workers and users of the sector; specifically, how well it respects the mandates of the fund, » he commented.