How Argentinian’s can avoid the dollar tax

Published in El Pais, December 26th 2019.

The Argentinian economy has seen better days. With the socialist Fernandez government being elected foreign lenders are understandably worried. The peso has dropped considerably and to prevent it from going down further they have enacted new policies that has left many upset. First they passed legislation limiting the amount of dollars that can be exchanged to $200 a month and now any future purchases of the greenback will face a 30% tax. This is leaving many at the mercy of the peso and with that  the fear of what will happen to their savings. There is a solution however to work around both restrictive measures, and there is likely little the government can do about it.

I have written about cryptocurrency in the past and even how many Argentinians have looked to Bitcoin as an alternative. While Bitcoin is an interesting choice it is no doubt highly volatile and many do not wish to take such risks. Which is why I propose they purchase stablecoins instead, coins that will always be pegged to the US dollar.

The ability to purchase the coins is now getting easier as well. Binance, one of the largest international cryptocurrency exchanges in the world will soon launch a program that will allow the purchase of cryptocurrencies using the Argentinian Peso and the Brazilian Real. This exchange allows has many coins available including the number 4 ranked coin Tether.

Not only will this allow the Argentinian people to purchase this coins without the tax and the limit, it will be secured on the blockchain and out of the banks, something that will appeal to many who still have the infamous Corralito event fresh in their minds when the government froze all bank accounts for a year.

This is a troubling time for Argentina and many do not know what to do. Unfortunately I do not have all the answers but with this solution many will still be able to put aside some money for later. Hopefully these regulations will end and the peso will stabilize but preparing for this worse is never a bad idea.