Stacy Herbert: Argentine Bitcoin Euphoria Is Overblown

• Argentine and Salvadorian officials met last week to discuss policy, prompting some to assume Argentina is implementing crypto adoption policies.
• Stacy Herbert shut down talk of the meeting discussing Argentina’s plan for state-level BTC adoption. 
• Argentina’s National Securities Commission confirmed discussions around digital assets.

Bitcoin-friendly Javier Milei swept to victory in Argentina’s presidential elections in November 2023, sparking predictions the country would soon implement Bitcoin as legal tender. While Argentina has moved closer to “Bitcoinization” since Milei took office, such as ratifying Bitcoin for payment in contract deals, the country is still far from adopting BTC at the state level in any meaningful way.

However, recent talks between Argentine and Salvadoran officials have reignited fervent speculation of imminent Bitcoinization. Yet Stacy Herbert, director of the National Bitcoin Office of El Salvador , shut down these rumors, clarifying that they are greatly exaggerated. 

Argentina Bitcoin Hype Overblown

Herbert took to X to confirm rumors of Argentine Bitcoin adoption are greatly exaggerated, adding that talks between the two nations were “merely a very ordinary exchange of information between two regulators related to digital securities regulations,” despite media hype to the contrary.

The National Bitcoin Office director explained that the discussions that took place between Argentine and Salvadorian officials largely focused on the economic turmoil caused by the plummeting value of the Argentine peso against the U.S. dollar.

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Herbert mentioned that with so much “excitement around hyperbitcoinization these days,” the euphoria tends to lead to exaggerated headlines, which, in this case, is untrue according to Herbert.

Although Herbert firmly rejected the notion that Argentina was exploring state-level Bitcoin integration, the official statement from the country’s National Securities Commission (CNV) paints a different picture.

Regulators Talk Crypto 

Roberto E. Silva and Patricia Boedo, the president and vice president of Argentina’s CNV met with Juan Carlos Reyes, president of El Salvador’s National Commission of Digital Assets (CNAD) last week to discuss “the growth of the use of cryptocurrencies in economies in general.”

The meeting covered El Salvador’s experience as the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender back in 2021. Silva stated El Salvador has emerged as a leader in the Bitcoin and crypto space by creating the CNAD and has “valuable experience” to share with Argentine regulators.

Reyes echoed the seemingly pro-Bitcoin tone, saying Argentina is a “pioneer in technology” and that the CNV wants to work efficiently with the crypto industry to create appropriate regulations and strengthen collaborative efforts between both nations.

On the Flipside

• El Salvador‘s Bitcoin holdings are $72.3 million in the green .
• It’s estimated that under 2% of Salvadorians hold Bitcoin.
• Cross-border collaboration on crypto regulations could help harmonize policies and prevent regulatory arbitrage.

Why This Matters

The outsized speculation sparked by this routine meeting highlights the complexity of pursuing El Salvador-style Bitcoin adoption, especially for a G20 nation like Argentina, which faces issues such as spiraling national debt on a much more pronounced scale than El Salvador.

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