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Don't know about their trade deficit, but I talked to a few people living there and they said, crypto is the only way for them. Their own currency is unusable,

• the_af 4y ago
  > Their own currency is unusable I'm an Argentinian, and this is an exaggeration. There is certainly very high inflation and we are all worried about it, but the peso is not useless (yet), and the majority of people go about their lives without any access to dollars or crypto. If the peso was useless, these people wouldn't be able to eat. This must also be stressed: outside a minority within the middle class, most working people don't even know what crypto is. > the government limits how much dollar they buy Some nuance here: this is not done out of a whim, but to preserve dollar reserves, needed for international trade. People who buy dollars (myself included) tend to hoard them as savings outside the banking system (making them unavailable) or spend them in gadgets, luxury goods or travel. Note I don't condemn the individual behavior, I just note this creates a collective problem for the country.
  • valcron1000 4y ago
    > this is not done out of a whim, but to preserve dollar reserves This situation happens because the USD price is artificially low. Use the market price and you no longer have this issue.
    • the_af 4y ago
      You mean also taking away all restrictions? I'm no expert but I imagine this would simply leave the middle class out of the loop and simply move all of the dollar buying/hiding in offshore accounts to the big players. I'm not sure Argentina as a country would benefit.
      • initplus 4y ago
        It's at a point now where the instability of the local currency is ingrained in a whole generation of Argentinians. Unwinding that psychology is not easy, regardless of monetary policy. Every more "developed" country went through real hardship attempting to control their exchange rates, always there were strong short term reasons to keep the controls in place. But it's just not viable in the long run. Controls create an artificial situation where the politically well connected benefit. They gain personal access to favorable rates, or their businesses enjoy unfair protection through the manipulated rates.
  • yazantapuz 4y ago
    > Note I don't condemn the individual behavior, I just note this creates a collective problem for the country. This a sympton. The root of the problem is elsewhere: the government. How it is possible that our neighbours do not have our chronical shortage of dollars?
    • the_af 4y ago
      Our history is different. Since our government is made of us, and not an alien body of rulers, they are also not THE root problem. Unfortunately I don't think there is a single, tidy reason like "the government", or "public spending", "printing money", etc. Those who sell those simple solutions have vested interests in that narrative.
      • yazantapuz 4y ago
        I do not share this view. It's like there is an "argentinian negative exceptionalism". Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru... we share a great deal of history and culture with them, but only our economy is sinking since decades ago.
        • the_af 4y ago
          Well, I don't think it's negative exceptionalism because I don't think our economy has been sinking since decades ago. I also don't think those other countries should be held as successes either. There are also historical events (impacting the economy and social climate) that make all those countries different. Props to you for acknowledging Bolivia's success though! (Anti-props for thinking Chile is a success. An economic "boom" based on inequality and bloodshed).
• valcron1000 4y ago
  As an Argentinian this is 100% true. Thanks to crypto I can live a comfortable life.