The Argentine ecosystem is once again the center of attention of public opinion this week. The Senate of the South American country approved the terms of the agreement between the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which includes an anti-bitcoin clause.
The inflationary issue continues to worry citizens of the region, also affecting residents of Spain. This, while the future regulatory seems to have been left in limbo in Colombia. Meanwhile, aspects related to economic policies in the face of the war between Russia and Ukraine are part of the agenda of some governments such as that of El Salvador.
To go to the detail of the news of each Spanish-speaking country during the past week, we leave you the most recent Bitcoin in Spanish.
Argentina
The ratification of the agreement with the International Monetary Fund is the most important news that moves the interest of Argentines these days.
With this agreement, the country he turned in the first to commit to applying anti bitcoin measures, by accepting a clause by which the international organization asks to “discourage the use of cryptocurrencies”. With this measure, it exerts pressure and seeks to discourage one of the most active markets in the region, which moves more than USD 68,000 million.
In this regard, many analysts believe that the restrictions on cryptocurrencies could become a standard condition of the organism to grant loans to countries in crisis. It is believed that 5 other countries that have significant debts with the IMF, would also be exposed to receiving similar anti-bitcoin conditions, among which is Colombia.
Until now, it is unknown what measures the Argentine government would take to discourage the ecosystem. However, everything indicates that the first measures would begin to be applied through the Financial Information Unit (UIF), the body in charge of preventing and impeding money laundering.
The FIU is known to have plans to require companies in the cryptocurrency sector record and report customer transactions.
On the other hand, an investigation by CriptoNoticias reports the increase in the number of people who have lost all their money on the Sports Earnings platform. There are already an estimated 40,000 cases reported in the city of San Rafael alone, in the province of Mendoza.
According to the stories of the victims, the platform offers the possibility of betting in bitcoin based on the prediction of the results of sporting events. But in practice they do not receive the promised profits and have no way of recovering their investment.
Colombia
After more than five months since Binance blocked the accounts of different Colombian users, preventing them from having access to their cryptocurrencies, many of them legal action has been taken against the company to get your money back.
The blocking was due to the fact that they had received cryptocurrencies from alleged criminal activities, according to suspicions of the FIOD (Fiscal Information and Investigation Service of the Netherlands). On this basis Binance proceeded to freeze their funds and block their accounts.
Another issue that occupied Colombians this week was the congressional elections, held on March 13. Its results generated a recomposition of political forces, which can lead to a loss of promoters in the regulatory debate. of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
Two congressmen and one candidate, who included the issue in their political agendas, didn’t get enough votes to win a seat in parliament. Mauricio Toro and Edward Rodríguez were seeking re-election, while Didier Carrillo aspired to obtain a seat.
Each of them had proposals aimed at promoting non-punitive regulation. This implies that now the proposals and projects that involve ecosystem technology run the risk of being shelved for the next four years.
The Ruta N Corporation of Medellin of Colombia fsigned this week an agreement with the government of El Salvador. The idea is to develop bitcoin-based projects and benefit businessmen, universities, government collaborators and the community population from the exchange of experiences that have transformed Medellín into a smart city.
The agreement was signed within the framework of the work tour carried out by a Salvadoran delegation to Colombia. With the new cooperation agreement, guidelines will be given to El Salvador on the articulation of the public, private and academic sectors for the development of the technological ecosystem.
Costa Rica
The Bitcoin Jungle community project in Costa Rica reported this week the arrival of two new bitcoin ATMs (BTC ATMs) to the country. They are the first equipment to be installed in the Bahía Ballena district, located in the province of Puntarenas on the beaches of the South Pacific.
One of the machines will be in a local beach town of Uvita, while the other will be in the town of Dominical, which attracts surfers from all over the world and where there are a large number of entrepreneurs who receive payments in BTC.
The two bitcoin ATMs were supplied by the General Bytes company. The machines They join another six that have been installed throughout Costa Rica.
The Savior
The Salvadoran government was preparing to launch bitcoin-based bonds, also known as volcano bonds. The announcement was expected last week, but it was later learned that the war between Russia and the Ukraine had changed the plans.
According to statements by the Minister of Finance, Alejandro Zelaya, the war has delayed everything that the Central American country had planned with this financial instrument. “There is an international context that we have to review to see when it is the right time to leave,” he declared.
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Camarasal) reported that 91.7% of businessmen from various sectors of the economy, the entry into force of bitcoin has been indifferent as legal tender. Camarasal applied a survey between January and February aimed at small, medium and large companies that make life throughout El Salvador, to find out the acceptance of cryptocurrency.
Despite the above, the country is attracting foreign investors, especially from the cryptocurrency area. Exchanges, digital wallets, payment processors and bitcoin custodians have arrived in El Salvador with a long-term view on cryptocurrency adoption.
Spain
The latest monthly inflation report in Spain indicates that the price increase index is 7.6% for the month of February, the highest figure in 35 years.
It is a situation that worries the Spanish and that makes people have less and less money and look for alternatives to save, including bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. With this level of inflation the Iberian country is positioned among those with higher inflation in all Europe.
Meanwhile, the National Cybersecurity Institute (INCIBE) reported on the increase in cases of theft through the vishing, a type of fraud that is carried out through telephone calls.
The impersonation of companies or trusted entities to obtain personal data and steal cryptocurrencies from people, through a simple call, has become very common in Spain, highlights the organism. Older adults are one of the main targets of these scammers.
Mexico
Eloísa Cadenas, founder of the CryptoFintech consulting firm and one of the most recognized people in the ecosystem in Mexico, had a conversation with the AsoBlockchain team from Colombia through a Twitter Space.
During the conversation he spoke in the negative way in which bitcoin entrepreneurs are usually seen in their country. “People ask us: ‘Are you laundering money? are you buying drugs?’, or a series of things that stigmatize for the simple fact of saying that we are using bitcoin”, said Cárdenas.
The same type of experience was recounted by Camilo Suárez, an entrepreneur in the cryptocurrency industry and president of the Colombian Blockchain Association.
Cadenas and Suárez agreed in pointing out that the mistaken association of cryptocurrencies with drug cartels It is an issue that affects the sector. “These are factors that hurt the cryptocurrency industry.” In reality, the Mexican and Colombian cartels prefer banks and not bitcoin to launder money, as reported by CriptoNoticias.
Venezuela
The wave of sanctions and generalized blockade against Russia, as a result of the armed conflict in Ukrainian territory, has made the United States rethink its position towards Venezuela. All for oil, the main historical source of income for the South American country.
In this regard, two analysts consulted by CriptoNoticias agree that the possibility of resuming crude oil trading with the United States could be beneficial for Venezuela, although it would not be so simple.
On the other hand, in monetary matters, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Venezuelans inside and outside the country to obtain Bolivars in Venezuela in exchange for dollars and other foreign currencies.
This situation generally worsens during the first quarter of the year, according to statements by economist Aaron Olmos. The difficulty of accessing the local currency can be solved with the use of cryptocurrency platforms.
Regarding cryptocurrency mining, Alejandro Quiles, from the company Grupo Tools CA, spoke with this medium about the development of this industry and stated that the activity is highly profitable in Venezuela.
events of the week
Among the events related to bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and blockchains in the region for this week, the following stand out in the CriptoNoticias calendar:
- Wednesday March 23: «NFT’s», discussion about non-fungible tokens, organized by Web3 Latam.
- Thursday March 24: Streaming webinar “Introductory talk on bitcoin and blockchain”, organized by NGO Bitcoin Argentina.
- Thursday March 24: «Decentralab», introductory talk to the world of DAOs and decentralized governance organized by Web3 Latam.
- Friday March 25: «Blockchain X Social Impact», event organized by Web3 Latam.
- Monday March 29: «DefiNation», event by Web3 Latam to talk about DeFi.
Businesses that accept cryptocurrencies in Spanish-speaking countries
Do you know or have a small business that accepts bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for its products and services?
We invite you to share the information with us through [email protected]. We will inform about the adoption of cryptocurrencies of that business in some of the Spanish-speaking countries.