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There are two exchange rates for USD and Argentine Peso. One is official, set out by the government. The other one, called blue rate, is not. With blue rate, th

There are two exchange rates for USD and Argentine Peso. One is official, set out by the government. The other one, called blue rate, is not. With blue rate, the dollar is almost 2x more expensive (https://bluedollar.net/ https://bluedollar.net/). As an Argentinian, there is a limit of dollars that you can buy per month using the official rate. If you want to buy more, you need to find someone that will sell you dollars at the blue rate (~2x more expensive). Due to this, even if you're making good money in Argentina (working for a US based company for example), you'll get hit heavily with the exchange rates, sometimes twice if you don't have a foreign bank account. Source: I spent a couple months living in Buenos Aires. Still, I'm curious about what is the process of buying crypto with Argentinian pesos? Any advice?

latchkey 3y ago
> Still, I'm curious about what is the process of buying crypto with Argentinian pesos? Any advice? I'm not sure if this applies in BA, but in other countries, there are expat focused FB groups where people offer local currency conversion services. This often includes crypto. I would start there and find someone reputable in those communities. After that, retail street level gold dealers typically do it too, or know where to go.
- pjc50 3y ago
  This makes sense. Now, an interesting question to ask in relation to any crypto activity: who's taking the other side of the trade, and why? Who's trading dollars to bitcoin to pesos? I'm guessing the answer is "people who have some means of laundering pesos back to dollars at the official rate"?
  - latchkey 3y ago
    It isn't "any crypto activity"... it is "any financial activity". People trade all sorts of widgets all the time. It doesn't matter if it is crypto or beanie babies. I also wouldn't call it laundering either. If you own something valuable, you should be able to sell it. Laundering implies nefarious interactions and it isn't always nefarious. In general, you can't travel with more than a few thousand $'s in cash. It is also personal safety risk. Having a way to travel the planet and convert locally as needed, seems like a valuable service, for regular people. Of course one might say that you should use 'credit/debit cards' or services like western union... but if you've actually done travel to more 'out there' locations, that isn't always an option, full of high fees or just very difficult to use (things like language barriers and time delays).

latchkey 3y ago

> Still, I'm curious about what is the process of buying crypto with Argentinian pesos? Any advice? I'm not sure if this applies in BA, but in other countries, there are expat focused FB groups where people offer local currency conversion services. This often includes crypto. I would start there and find someone reputable in those communities. After that, retail street level gold dealers typically do it too, or know where to go.

pjc50 3y ago
This makes sense. Now, an interesting question to ask in relation to any crypto activity: who's taking the other side of the trade, and why? Who's trading dollars to bitcoin to pesos? I'm guessing the answer is "people who have some means of laundering pesos back to dollars at the official rate"?
- latchkey 3y ago
  It isn't "any crypto activity"... it is "any financial activity". People trade all sorts of widgets all the time. It doesn't matter if it is crypto or beanie babies. I also wouldn't call it laundering either. If you own something valuable, you should be able to sell it. Laundering implies nefarious interactions and it isn't always nefarious. In general, you can't travel with more than a few thousand $'s in cash. It is also personal safety risk. Having a way to travel the planet and convert locally as needed, seems like a valuable service, for regular people. Of course one might say that you should use 'credit/debit cards' or services like western union... but if you've actually done travel to more 'out there' locations, that isn't always an option, full of high fees or just very difficult to use (things like language barriers and time delays).