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> I think this article is going to result in a crackdown on Bitcoin here in Argentina. What surprises me is that the article identified the person with full n

> I think this article is going to result in a crackdown on Bitcoin here in Argentina. What surprises me is that the article identified the person with full name and photo - while his activities are clearly illegal (trading black market dollars for BTC, tax evasion most likely too). It's rather imprudent, IMHO.

kragen 12y ago
It's not clear that they're illegal, although the article certainly did assert that they are. Buying and selling commodities for pesos is legal. It’s just, as I understand it, dealing in foreign currencies without a license that's illegal (but they daren’t shut that down entirely!), but Bitcoin isn’t a foreign currency. In fact, maybe it isn’t a currency at all; certainly that’s the IRS’s position on the matter. Whether AFIP, or the courts trying the case, will agree, that’s another question — and this article is certainly not going to help the case of the people mentiond in it.
- hobarrera 12y ago
  I should have clarified a bit: I live in Argentina, and yes, this sort of ARS for USD trading is illegal. Selling commodities for foreign currency is also illegal (he states he sells BTC for USD too).
  - kragen 12y ago
    Sure, clearly his cueva activities of selling ARS for USD and vice versa are illegal; I was just talking about the Bitcoin trades. I think you may be mistaken that “selling commodities for foreign currency is illegal”, because every Coto grocery store has a sign at every checkout counter explaining that they accept US dollars and Euros for their groceries, and at what ratio to the peso. And they’re enrolled in Precios Cuidados, so whatever illegal things they do, they pretty much have to do them in secret. There might be something illegal about selling Bitcoin for USD, but I’m pretty sure that it’s not simply that it’s selling a commodity for foreign currency.

kragen 12y ago

It's not clear that they're illegal, although the article certainly did assert that they are. Buying and selling commodities for pesos is legal. It’s just, as I understand it, dealing in foreign currencies without a license that's illegal (but they daren’t shut that down entirely!), but Bitcoin isn’t a foreign currency. In fact, maybe it isn’t a currency at all; certainly that’s the IRS’s position on the matter. Whether AFIP, or the courts trying the case, will agree, that’s another question — and this article is certainly not going to help the case of the people mentiond in it.

hobarrera 12y ago
I should have clarified a bit: I live in Argentina, and yes, this sort of ARS for USD trading is illegal. Selling commodities for foreign currency is also illegal (he states he sells BTC for USD too).
- kragen 12y ago
  Sure, clearly his cueva activities of selling ARS for USD and vice versa are illegal; I was just talking about the Bitcoin trades. I think you may be mistaken that “selling commodities for foreign currency is illegal”, because every Coto grocery store has a sign at every checkout counter explaining that they accept US dollars and Euros for their groceries, and at what ratio to the peso. And they’re enrolled in Precios Cuidados, so whatever illegal things they do, they pretty much have to do them in secret. There might be something illegal about selling Bitcoin for USD, but I’m pretty sure that it’s not simply that it’s selling a commodity for foreign currency.