Why Doesn't Argentina Follow El Salvador's Bitcoin Footsteps?

Oh boy, I was so looking forward to watching ==Lex Fridman’s episode with the President of Argentina, Javier Milei==.

\ A ==libertarian-anarcho-capitalist== who’s a huge fan of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.” What’s not to like about the guy who inspired 3D-printed action figures of himself on Amazon?

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\ Lex Fridman was excited as well about doing an interview “in a foreign language” (read non-English) with a president (don’t read he couldn’t get Trump):

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This is a first time for me doing something like this in a foreign language. It was challenging, but illuminating.

\ Here’s a link to this episode’s transcript.

\ After 35 minutes into the episode, I opted out not because the word ==“best”== was used 13 times, or ==in “history”== 17 times, or even ==“GREAT(EST)” 24 FRACKING TIMES== (hey, who’s counting and who’s been using these words during the US Presidential campaign), but because of this dude, Javier Milei was so proud to mention:

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Furthermore, a recent work by an Argentinian economist named Juan Pablo Nicolini was presented at the central bank’s monetary meetings and he works at the Federal Reserve.

\ WUT?!

\ Juan Pablo Nicolini is a senior research economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Not just “any” FED, but ==the notorious MPLS FED!==

\ Yeah, these guys are well-known for their “works,” such as “Unique Implementation of Permanent Primary Deficits.”

\ What an innocent and misleading title for a strategy that eventually boils down to “A ‘Declaration Of War’—Fed And ECB Plot To ==‘Tax Or Ban’ Bitcoin== And Use Price Gains To Escape $35.7 Trillion Doom Loop.”

\ …Amol and Luttmer highlight ==the presence of Bitcoin==, which they refer to as a ==“useless piece of paper”== with no intrinsic value.

\ …==taxing Bitcoin or outright prohibiting its use==, as Amol and Luttmer argue.

\ …t==he existence of assets like Bitcoin complicates government efforts== to control fiscal outcomes.

\ …Bitcoin allows for an alternative method of wealth storage that operates ==independently of government fiscal policies.==

\ …==this independence undermines the government’s ability to ensure fiscal stability== when attempting to maintain permanent deficits.

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\ ==Argentina is not El Salvador.==

\ ==Javier Milei is not Nayib Bukele.==

\ “There has been a surge of ==misleading information== regarding Javier Milei and his stance on Bitcoin. Contrary to some reports, Milei’s administration is ==not pushing for a bitcoin standard in Argentina==.”

\ Milei has ==NO INTENTION OR AMBITION to adopt Bitcoin as Argentina's official currency==, which is the current situation in El Salvador.

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His main economic proposal has been the ==dollarization== of the Argentine economy, ==not the adoption== of Bitcoin as legal tender​.

\ “During the recent meeting with local regulators and the Director of the Crypto Active division from El Salvador, ==Bitcoin was not even mentioned.==”

\ You meet with the guys from the crypto division, who come from ==the first country in the world to use Bitcoin== as legal tender, and you talk about anything and everything BUT Bitcoin.

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\ “Argentina, one of the fastest-growing cryptocurrency markets, ==has overtaken Brazil== as the top Latin American (Latam) country in terms of estimated crypto inflows by users.”

\ BUT!

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Argentines buy Tether in cash and ==do nothing with it==.

\ That’s like telling Messi (5’7”) to forget about FIFA and try the NBA for a change.

Look, the Bitcoin situation in El Salvador is not all sunshine and rainbows; that’s a fact. But, “Bukele has credited this change to fueling the increase in tourism to El Salvador by 95%.” That’s also an undeniable fact.

\ ==Better with Bitcoin than as it used to be with dollarization:== “The government was unable to control monetary policy after dollarization, as the value of currency was tied to the United States Federal Reserve. The exchange rate, which was fixed at one U.S. dollar being equivalent to 8.75 colóns, ==decreased the purchasing power of the population==. Dollarization ==slowed down El Salvador's exports== because it could not compete against the undervalued currencies of other developing countries such as China.”

\ Javier Milei: “We are restored freedoms to Argentinians while simultaneously implementing a structural reform eight times larger. And we accomplished this with only with 15% of the representatives, 10% of the senators, and ==within the first six months of government==. In other words, our deregulation agenda continues daily and ==we still have 3,200 structural reforms pending==.”

\ Sadly, somewhere among all these thousands of pending reforms is the regulation of cryptocurrency, not just Bitcoin, usage in Argentina.

\ Javier Milei: “This is why it’s so interesting, and I was ==so deeply moved when last night I also got to meet Sylvester Stallone==, because Sylvester Stallone talks about, well, how important is that no matter how hard they hit you and keep on hitting you all the time, despite all that, you keep going on and on and on. What ==I’m trying to say is that so many of Sylvester Stallone’s approaches are truly inspirational==, don’t you think? So imagine, I’m about to give the speech and I see Sylvester Stallone and ==Sylvester Stallone knows me==. It was truly ==insane. I had to pinch myself==. I mean this can’t be true.”

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\ Yeah, truly insane. I had to pinch myself more than once while writing this story. Bitcoin is like, this can’t be true.