Key facts:
Leonardo Cositorto, CEO of Generación Zoe, creates a new project with the same fraudulent scheme.
Mexico’s cartels prefer banks, not bitcoin, for their illicit activities.
Bitcoin in Spanish is the weekly newsletter of CriptoNoticias in which we review the most important facts related to bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and blockchains in the Hispanic world.
The news of the Argentine ecosystem monopolized the majority of the interest in the informative field this week. The clause of the agreement that the country signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and asks to discourage the use of cryptocurrencies, set off the alarms of bitcoiners.
The statistics on the inflationary issue and the economic crisis is another point that occupies both Argentines and Venezuelans. This, while some aspects related to legal and regulatory decisions, together with news about the Ponzi scheme Generation Zoe and cryptocurrency money laundering, They were also in the debate of Latin American public opinion.
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 NGO organization Bitcoin Argentina requested the government access to the public information related to the recent agreement that was signed with the International Monetary Fund.
The request was addressed to the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, and in it he referred to the implications of one of the sections of the agreement that speaks of the establishment of policies aimed at discourage the cryptocurrency market.
For this reason, the NGO asked Guzmán for explanations about the measures that the government would carry out, within the framework of the new program with the international credit organization.
Relevant participants in the Argentine bitcoin ecosystem, including Franco Bianchi and Franco Amati, agree that there is still not enough information to get an idea of the repercussions. for now, the outlook looks uncertain.
Meanwhile, Argentina’s monthly inflation reached 4% during February, a higher percentage than that reached by Venezuela (the most inflationary country in the region) in the same period.
The inflation data is one of the indicators of economic problems that affect the South American country, whose progress pushes citizens to use bitcoin. This fact was recognized by Diego Fernández, secretary of Innovation and Digital Transformation of the government of Buenos Aires. The official recognized that the cryptocurrency helps to survive in the face of the crisis.
For its part, Banco Santander together with the company Agrotoken launched a loan program for Argentine farmers with tokens developed on Ethereum, Polygon and Algorand. The prices of these digital assets will be linked to that of raw materials such as soybeans, corn and wheat.
In terms of security, it was learned that Leonardo Cositorto, promoter of the Zoe Cash token and CEO of Generación ZOE -now a fugitive from Argentine justice- created a new project called sunrise coach.
The promoter, accused of fraud, gave a Zoom conference from an unknown location to talk about the alleged benefits of his venture, while leave without your money many of the participants in the old Generation Zoe scheme.
On the other hand, at the beginning of the week a hack to Mercado Libre was reported, in what is presumed to be Another hit by cybercriminal group Lapsus$. Through the attack, access to the data of 300,000 users and the source code of the platform was violated.
The Savior
The Central American country is awaiting the launch of bitcoin-based bonds, also known as volcano bonds. But first, a package of 52 laws must be approved that will serve as the basis for the operation of the bonds.
President Nayib Bukele said that this week the first 10 legal reforms would be announced. If these reforms move forward, it is possible that the volcano bonds will be ready at any time between now and March 20, said Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya.
Meanwhile, in the Salvadoran capital, various government entities and a Christian foundation called Jerusalem are distributing 9,000 scholarships for young people to learn how to trade bitcoin. The training is given by Harvest Trading Cap Academy, a Dominican Republic company dedicated to investing in the stock market and trading cryptocurrencies.
Spain
In tax matters, the lack of sufficiently clear criteria to correctly declare taxes on cryptocurrencies, by the tax authorities of Spain, is generating uncertainty among investors. This was expressed by the Spanish economist, Juan Ramón Rallo.
Rallo talked about the tax issue with Paula Urcera, in charge of Tax Affairs at the TaxDown company, and Alberto Toribio, head of Institutional Relations at CryptoPlaza.
Spain requires that residents who invest in cryptocurrencies pay taxes on the performance of the different products. However, the rapid growth of the sector, as well as the variety and usefulness of the products seems to be complicating the picture.
This March 14, the European Parliament voted 32 to 24 against the final version of the European Union bill that included a controversial rule that would affect bitcoin mining. It is known that the Spanish parliamentarians voted as follows: Jonás Fernández, PSOE, in favor of banning. Isabel Benjumea Benjumea and José Manuel García-Margallo, PP, opponents. Luis Garicano, Ciudadanos, abstained.
However, despite the vote, which had been postponed weeks before, mining is not out of danger as opposition parliamentarians, including some from Spain, still have a chance appeal the decision.
Mexico
According to a report by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), traditional banks they still are preferred mechanisms for money laundering.
The agency, which carries out coordinated work with other organizations made up of UN member states, investigated the activities of drug cartels in Mexico, including Jalisco Nueva Generación and Sinaloa.
He explains that, although there is an increase in the use of cryptocurrencies in small amounts, the movements of these criminal groups are based on cash smuggling in bulkalternative remittance systems (such as hawala) and mobile payments
Venezuela
In a controversial decision, the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela this week annulled the protection of a court that had favored a Bitcoin mining companywhose equipment was confiscated by the National Cryptoactive Superintendence (SUNACRIP).
The highest Venezuelan judicial entity revoked the opinion of the First National Contentious Administrative Court of the Capital Region, which, in November, ruled against SUNACRIP. The decision was made after the agency inspected two mining farms and seize equipmentalleging that these activities had not been recorded.
Although recent data suggest that Argentine inflation was higher than that of Venezuela in February, Venezuela continues to be affected by the phenomenon of inflation. During this period, inflation in the Caribbean country was 1.7% against that of more than 4% in Argentina.
Despite this, the feeling of improvement has to do with the fact that the country governed by Nicolás Maduro has had five consecutive months of monthly inflation below two digits, and twelve months with inflation below 50%. A fact that has taken it out of hyperinflation, but not from the economic crisis who has suffered for several years.
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 16: «NFT’s», discussion about non-fungible tokens, organized by Web3 Latam.
Thursday March 17: Webinar “Introductory talk on bitcoin and blockchain”, organized by NGO Bitcoin Argentina.
Thursday March 17: «Decentralab», introductory talk to the world of DAOs and decentralized governance organized by Web3 Latam.
Friday March 18: «Blockchain X Social Impact», event organized by Web3 Latam.
Monday March 21: «Digital Currencies weekly meeting», by Web3 Latam.
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.