USD stablecoin premiums surge in Argentina following economy minister’s resignation

Published at: July 4, 2022

Argentina, a country with one of the highest crypto adoption rates in the world, saw the price of United States dollar-pegged stablecoins surge across exchanges on Saturday after the abrupt resignation of its Economy Minister, Martin Guzman. 

The minister’s shock exit, confirmed on his Twitter account on Sunday via a seven-page letter, threatens to further destabilize a struggling economy battling high inflation and a depreciating national currency.

According to data from Criptoya, the cost of buying Tether (USDT) using Argentinian pesos (ARS) is currently 271.4 ARS through the Binance exchange, which is around a 12% premium from before the resignation announcement, and a 116.25% premium compared to the current fiat exchange rate of USD/ARS.

The local crypto price tracking website has also revealed a similar jump in other USD-pegged stablecoins, including Dai (DAI), Binance USD (BUSD), Pax Dollar (USDP) and Dollar on Chain (DOC).

Argentineans have been piling into crypto as a means to hedge against the country’s rising inflation and a continued fall of the Argentinean peso against the USD.

In 2016, before inflation really took its toll, one USD was only able to buy around 14.72 Argentinean pesos. However, six years later, one USD is able to buy as many as 125.5 ARS.

The extra premium on U.S.-dollar pegged stablecoins is the result of a law passed on September 1, 2019, called Decree No. 609/2019, and has made it virtually impossible for Argentinians to exchange more than $200 in greenbacks per month at the official exchange rate.

It was imposed as a means to prevent the Argentinean peso from free-falling amid a struggling economy. In May, the Argentinean annual inflation rate accelerated for the fourth straight month, hitting 60.7%, according to Trading Economics.

Related: Argentina carries out crypto wallet seizures linked to tax delinquents

The South American nation has the sixth-highest adoption rate globally, with around 21% of Argentineans estimated to have used or owned crypto by 2021, according to Statista.

In May, Cointelegraph reported that “crypto penetration” in Argentina had reached 12%, double that of Peru, Mexico, and other countries in the region, primarily driven by citizens seeking safe haven against rising inflation.

In addition to Bitcoin, Argentineans have been turning to stablecoins increasingly as a means of storing value in the United States dollar.

Tags
Altcoin
Stablecoin
Tether
Paxos
Argentina
Dollar
Dai
Related Posts
Which stablecoins were actually ‘stable’ during this week’s sudden Bitcoin price crash?
A sharp sell-off across the cryptocurrency market on Tuesday — that saw top tokens Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL) fall by double-digital percentages — created a venue for stablecoins to prove their worth. The fixed-price cryptocurrencies offered interim protection to traders from the notorious crypto price volatility. They did so by almost maintaining their one dollar-peg and offering sufficient liquidity to traders who looked for a safety net during the market decline. Blockchain analytics service CryptoQuant reported dramatic spikes in stablecoin transfers as the cryptocurrency market capitalizati fell from $2.38 trillion to $2.103 trillion on Tuesday. …
Bitcoin Price / Sept. 9, 2021
Tether market cap nears $70B as SEC crypto crackdown hurts stablecoin rivals
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wants to sue Paxos for issuing and listing stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD) to the benefit of its top-rival stablecoin Tether (USDT), whose market capitalization has risen to multi-month highs. BUSD market cap drops by $2 billion The SEC asserts that BUSD, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, is a security, noting that Paxos has violated investor protection laws by white-labeling it. Related: Paxos ‘categorically disagrees’ with the SEC that BUSD is a security Since Feb. 13 when the news broke, the BUSD market cap has lost roughly $2 billion, down to around $14 billion as …
Sec / Feb. 16, 2023
Brazilian Exchanges to Integrate the Real-T, a Stablecoin Pegged to the Real
Brazilian cryptocurrency exchanges are rolling out support for a stablecoin, according to a report by Cointelegraph Brasil on June 26. Brazilian platforms including PagCripto, Nox Trading, 3xBit, and Bitcambio, are reportedly slated to be the next adopters to issue this new stablecoin — pegged one-to-one with the Brazilian real — Real-T (REALT). As explained in its whitepaper, the “Real-T Token” is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 stablecoin that is “strictly pegged” to BRL. The paper claims that the company behind the token, Real-T Tecnologia S.A., will publicly share its bank statement to provide evidence for full backing of Real-T in fiat money. …
United States / June 27, 2019
Tether Re-Opens Direct Redemption of Fiat, While Bitfinex Adds Tether-Fiat Trading Pairs
Popular stablecoin Tether has announced 1:1 redemptions of USDT to fiat, while affiliated crypto exchange Bitfinex added two new Tether-fiat trading pairs, according to announcements from both firms Tuesday, Nov. 27. Tether announced the direct redemption of Tether to fiat along with a major redesign of its platform for the verification of new customers. According to the official announcement, the update allows users to redeem their tokens on the Tether.to platform at a USDT to fiat ratio of 1:1. All Tether deposits and withdrawals are zero-fee, while fiat transfers are are subject to commissions. Tether customers will be limited to …
Altcoin / Nov. 27, 2018
Hong Kong Monetary Authority aims to oversee stablecoin reserves
Hong Kong’s central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), wants to supervise stablecoin issuance and reserves management. HKMA published a discussion paper on Jan. 12 regarding cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, in which it provided its views on how the industry should be regulated in Hong Kong. In the 34-page long consultation document, the HKMA paid special attention to “payment-related stablecoins,” pointing out that the market capitalization of all stablecoins hit $150 billion in December, accounting for 5% of the entire crypto market. The regulator added that all existing stablecoins are “mostly asset-linked and predominantly pegged” to the United States dollar, …
Adoption / Jan. 12, 2022