Although still skeptical, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez said he is cautiously putting his support behind bitcoin and isn’t ruling out launching a central bank digital currency.
During an interview with local media Caja Negra, aired by Filo.news, Fernandez said the concept of bitcoin and digital currencies is being debated on the world stage, and he admits, “there is caution because of how unfamiliar it is, and because it is hard to understand how this fortune materializes,” he said, referring to the roller coaster values of bitcoin over the months and years.
“Many people in the world have these concerns … But it is something to consider,” Fernandez said.
Ever since El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as a legal lender, crypto conversations have been heating up in Central and South America, particularly in Argentina because the digital currency can be used as an alternative avenue to the devaluation of the Argentine peso. It also offers “indirect exposure to the U.S. dollar,” according to decrypt.co.
See also: El Salvador Could Become First Country To Accept Bitcoin Like Cash
“They say the advantage is that the inflationary effect is largely nullified,” Fernandez told Caja Negra.
When Fernandez won the presidency from Mauricio Macri in 2019, he stepped into an economy ranked as the second most miserable in the world, behind South Africa, according to Bloomberg’s World Misery Index, which tracks inflation and unemployment forecasts for 60 economies worldwide.
Argentina keeps a short leash on currency exchange controls, which has, in turn, triggered a demand for foreign currency on the black market, per decrypt.co. In contrast, the U.S. dollar is legal tender in El Salvador alongside bitcoin.
See also: Adults In El Salvador Get $30 In Crypto Ahead Of Bitcoin Legalization
While President Fernandez expressed his support and caution for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Argentina’s central bank president Miguel Pesce looks at bitcoin as something that is not an actual asset, and any profits gained aren’t stable.