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As the inflation rate rapidly rises in Argentina, the crypto market continues to gain traction. Forbes analysts report that Argentina, with an annual inflation rate of 276%, leads the Western Hemisphere in cryptocurrency adoption. Forbes analysts stated in a July 8 article that the share of cryptocurrency adoption in Argentina is higher than in any other country in the Western Hemisphere.
Argentina and the Crypto Market
Out of 130 million visitors to the world’s top 55 exchanges, 2.5 million came from Argentina, according to data cited from SimilarWeb. Argentina is also the largest market in terms of visitors for Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges. According to SimilarWeb, web traffic from Argentina accounts for 6.9% of Binance’s total visits.
Contrary to the rising memecoin trend in the crypto industry, Argentina’s crypto adoption is not driven by memecoins. Analysts, referring to statements by Bitget’s Latin America head Maximiliano Hin, claimed that locals prefer to hold stablecoin projects like Tether instead:
“Argentina is an abnormal market where many people buy USDT and leave little room for anything else. We don’t see this elsewhere; Argentinians buy Tether and do nothing with it.”
Despite the lack of significant measures to protect stablecoin investors in Argentina due to high local inflation rates, holding money in USDT appears to make a lot of sense for people in Argentina.
Details on the Subject
Despite Argentina’s friendly stance towards cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, the country seems to struggle to establish a regulatory framework for the sector. After Argentine President Javier Milei took office in late 2023, Argentina officially approved the use of Bitcoin in legally binding contracts.
Since then, Argentina has been trying to regulate the local cryptocurrency market by passing registration requirements for crypto firms in April 2024. According to Forbes, despite the government’s efforts to regulate cryptocurrencies, Argentina still struggles to provide regulated cryptocurrency services to its people. The report claimed that none of Argentina’s top crypto exchanges, including Binance, are registered with the national securities regulator Comisión Nacional de Valores (CNV).
