China, Cuba, and Bolívia have issued warnings in the past few days, now is Argentina warning about Bitcoin
The Central Bank of Argentina issued a warning against Bitcoin last Thursday (20). In the past 7 days, this was the fourth country to publish alerts on cryptocurrencies, reinforcing measures already adopted in recent years.
It all started with China, being the main country to speak out against Bitcoin and causing fears among the youngest investors in the market. After Chinese authorities took a stand against cryptocurrency companies, even measures to crack down on mining were announced.
The Central Bank of Cuba, is an island that has been plagued by scams involving cryptocurrencies. The BCC said that some companies are not authorized to operate in the country and the population should stay away from the market, thus issuing a warning about Bitcoin.
One of the most emblematic cases in South America, Bolivia, has returned to using its authorities to warn against Bitcoin. The country, worth mentioning, is the only country in the region to ban cryptocurrency transactions since 2014.
In a heavy week for Bitcoin, Argentina’s BC reinforces measures against digital currency
The price of Bitcoin is heading to end the week as the worst of the year 2021. After several bad news, starting with Elon Musk and later by the Central Bank of China, the price of the digital currency has lost 22.9% in value in the last seven days.
With a heavy week, several countries and financial authorities took the opportunity to publish warnings against cryptocurrencies. One of them was the Central Bank of Argentina, which, last Thursday (20), published yet another warning about Bitcoin.
Published jointly with the National Securities Commission (CNV), the Argentine BC’s note informs that cryptocurrencies pose a risk to users and investors.
The official then stated that the Argentines have not had significant acceptance in the country. However, as there is growing interest in the subject in Argentina, the BC asks the population to be cautious about cryptocurrencies.
“Although ‘crypto assets’ currently do not have significant levels of acceptance and use in Argentina, the speed of developments and the growing interest in them make it necessary to adopt a cautious attitude towards them.”
BC acknowledged that cryptocurrencies improve financial efficiency, even without legal tender
It is worth noting that Bitcoin was created to be a digital currency independent of governments. That is, being criticized by central banks around the world is expected, since these are natural competing systems of cryptocurrencies.
At this point, the Central Bank of Argentina confessed that Bitcoin has an important financial efficiency and innovation.
“While these technologies can help promote greater financial efficiency and innovation, crypto assets [currencies] are not legal tender.”
Among the risks that the Argentine Central Bank warned against Bitcoin, would be the fact that the currency is not legal tender. Thus, it is not mandatory to use it as a means of payment, using the technology only for those who want to.
In addition, Bitcoin would have prices with high volatility, risks of cyber attacks, fraud, money laundering, among others more. The warning against cryptocurrencies, carried out jointly by two Argentine authorities, was made from Buenos Aires, the country’s capital.
It is worth mentioning that Argentina is one of the countries with the highest adoption of Bitcoin on the continent. Experiencing high inflation in the economy, part of the population started using Bitcoin for payments, fleeing the growing collapse of the Argentine Peso.
Even a subway ticket can be paid for with Bitcoin in the capital, and it is common to find a cryptocurrency ATM. Contrary to last week’s warning, a deputy reportedly proposed, in November 2020, a creation of a state-owned cryptocurrency broker in Argentina.