Argentina’s Crypto Outlook Under President Milei

The local crypto community is hopeful that libertarian Javier Milei, who was sworn in as president of Argentina on December 10, will honor some of his pledges and bring the country’s adoption of cryptocurrencies to the level where it surpassed that of Nayib Bukele in El Salvador.

The Latin American publication Cryptonoticias published “Three Requests to Milei from the Bitcoin Community” on the day of his inauguration.

Camilo Jorajuría, vice president of the non-governmental organization Bitcoin Argentina, urged Milei to uphold the privacy of his constituents and refrain from implementing the “draconian measures” advocated by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Jorajuría made reference to the FATF’s Travel Rule, a regulation that requires providers of virtual asset services to disclose details regarding the origins and destinations of virtual assets. Additionally, the crypto lobbyists cited El Salvador as a model nation for the implementation and regulation of Bitcoin.

Adam Dubove, a columnist and Argentine crypto advocate, believes that the newly inaugurated president should “begin to dismantle” the regulatory structure of the country’s central bank, the Banco Central de la República Argentina (BCRA), in order to fulfill his pledges of radical monetary reforms.

Mónica Taher, a former government employee of El Salvador, expressed approval of Milei’s position on cryptocurrencies and made the forecast that Argentina’s substantial economy might deter investors from El Salvador in the event that its government assists in enhancing the digital ecosystem.

On November 19, Javier Milei won the presidential election in Argentina, riding a surge of radical reform promises, including the complete dollarization of the national economy and the abolition of the BCRA.

Nevertheless, after the election, Argentine Bitcoin advocate and founder of media analyst firm Bitcoin Perception, Fernando Nikoli, cautioned that the crypto community’s elation for Milei should be subdued, as “enacting any legislation deemed ‘Bitcoin-friendly’ is not within the purview of his official agenda.”