(p. A4) Even though the cryptocurrency market has cratered in recent months, many Argentines see it as a safe haven in a country where surging inflation and a grinding economic crisis have battered the national currency, the peso, and people’s bank accounts.
“Money here is like ice cream,” said Marcos Buscaglia, an economist in Buenos Aires, the capital. “If you keep a peso for too long, it melts in terms of how much you can buy with it.”
. . .
Across the world, people in low-income and emerging countries have become the biggest users of cryptocurrencies, according to various reports, overtaking the United States and Europe.
Digital coins are prized in countries where the local money is volatile and where governments have made it harder for citizens to buy foreign currencies.
. . .
Argentina provides some clues about the appeal of cryptocurrencies.
Argentines have long looked to the dollar as a safe haven. Saving in dollars “is tattooed into our DNA,” said Daniel Convertini, 34, who works in communications for a ride-hailing company. “I learned to do it from my dad and my grandfather, not because I read it in some financial newspaper.”
. . .
. . . digital currencies provide an advantage by not requiring people to haul around large stashes of bills.
For the full story, see:
(Note: ellipses added.)
(Note: the online version of the story has the date Aug. 20, 2022, and has the title “Crypto Is Tumbling, but in Argentina It’s Still a Safer Bet.”)