The Argentine government approved on Thursday the 17th in a vote in the Senate a debt restructuring proposal worth USD 45,000 million. The terms of the agreement were previously negotiated with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and, among other things, provide for the application of measures to “disincentivize” the use of cryptocurrencies in the country, reported The Block.
In the memorandum that establishes the financial guidelines for the renegotiation of the debt, the government presented a series of proposals elaborated in collaboration with the fund that will be applied until 2024 to stimulate the resumption of economic growth, increasing the country’s resistance to crises in the macro scenario.
Without specifying what measures the government could take, the document contains an item titled “Strengthening Financial Resilience” urging authorities to “discourage” cryptocurrency trading in the country, according to the following excerpt:
“To safeguard financial stability, we will take important measures to (i) discourage the use of cryptocurrencies, in order to prevent money laundering, informality and disintermediation; (ii) continue to support the current process of digitalization of payments to improve the efficiency and costs of payment systems and money management; and (iii) safeguard the financial protection of consumers.”
Argentine companies and cryptocurrency users seek explanations about the effective measures that will be taken based on the commitment made by the government. Some entities have even publicly positioned themselves regarding the agreement.
The CEO of the NGO Bitcoin Argentina, Javier Madariaga, stated in a publication of the entity that it would be a mistake for the government to repress a financial emancipation tool widely welcomed by the country’s population:
“We are concerned that the authorities are colluding to discourage a technology that has already been massively adopted by the population, instead of unleashing its potential to solve historical problems. “We are convinced that the [mejor] The way forward is not to discourage or ban, but to work in coordination with the public and private sectors to harness the potential of decentralized finance.”
The agreement approved by the Senate on Thursday had already been approved by the House on March 11. Now all that remains is for the IMF executive committee to discuss and approve the agreement for it to enter into force.
Argentina ranks 10th in the latest edition of Chainalysis’s Global Cryptocurrency Adoption ranking, Cointelegraph Brasil reports. High inflation and government control over the foreign exchange market have contributed to the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies in Argentina. The country’s capital, Buenos Aires, has become one of the main hubs in Latin America for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology startups.
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