Micheal Saylor, the founder of Microstrategy, has told people living in inflation-stricken Argentina that they now “need bitcoin.” While many bitcoiners have welcomed Saylor’s suggestion, a few critics have said the top crypto asset’s volatility makes it an unsuitable alternative for the faltering local currency.
The Dollarization Option
As the Argentinian currency — the peso — continued with the slide that has seen it depreciate by more than 40% over the past twelve months, Micheal Saylor, the founder of Microstrategy, has chimed in by tweeting that people living in the South American country now “need bitcoin.” In a subsequent tweet, Saylor, a bitcoin critic turned advocate, also shared news about the South American country’s inflation rate after it topped 7.58% per day.
If you live in Argentina🇦🇷 right now, you need #bitcoin.
— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) April 22, 2023
The tweets by Saylor, whose firm is one of the largest corporate holders of BTC, came as reports suggested that some Argentinian politicians favor replacing the peso with the U.S. dollar. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, the Argentinian presidential aspirant Javier Milei has said dollarization can put the brakes on inflation, which officially stood at 103.4% in March.
Milei, who is seen as a frontrunner in presidential elections set to be held on Oct. 22, said he plans to shut down the central bank before starting the dollarization process. Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, has similarly suggested the South American country can only escape its present predicament by dollarizing.
Argentina has turned into an over-indebted IMF deadbeat. By my measure, the Argentinian peso has depreciated against the USD by 52% since Jan 1, 2022. ARG must dump the peso and dollarize NOW. Argentina, THE WORLD’S BIGGEST DEADBEAT. pic.twitter.com/4HyFei1WzO
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) April 25, 2023
Yet, despite the apparent widespread support for dollarization in Argentina, critics of the U.S. dollar, including Saylor’s followers on Twitter, have voiced their support for his call on residents to choose bitcoin instead.
Policy Brief: Argentina’s Fiscal Imbalances Will Not Go Away After Dollarization
However, some of Saylor’s followers on Twitter like Manu Ferrari B, a self-proclaimed “liberty maximalist,” have said BTC is too volatile and therefore it cannot be a viable alternative to the falling peso just yet….
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