Against the backdrop of soaring inflation rates, Argentina saw a surge in interest in cryptocurrencies. In June 2024, users from Argentina made up the majority of users on crypto exchanges.
According to a Forbes report, Argentina leads the Western Hemisphere in terms of cryptocurrency usage. About 2.5 million users of the 55 largest crypto exchanges are residents of Argentina, which is about 2% of the total number of crypto users in the world. As of June 2024, the total number of crypto users amounted to 130 million, Forbes reports.
Forbes analysts found that Argentina is the largest market for crypto exchange Binance in terms of visitors. According to SimilarWeb, users from Argentina generate 6.9% of the total number of visits to the crypto exchange.
The catalyst for the growing interest of Argentines in digital assets is the rapid growth of inflation. Forbes analysts stated that the annual inflation rate in Argentina is 276%, which encourages its citizens to actively use cryptocurrencies for savings.
The most popular digital assets in Argentina are stablecoins like Tether (USDT). According to Maximiliano Hinz, Growth Director at Bitget in Latin America, most Argentines buy USDT and don’t use it for other transactions, which is considered quite unusual behavior for crypto investors from other countries. Hinz believes that in this way, users from Argentina protect their funds in the face of high inflation.
A report by crypto exchange Bitso says that about 60% of crypto users from Argentina prefer stablecoins, another 16% — ETH, 13% — BTC, 8% — XRP, and the rest of the local users prefer meme coins.
Argentines are actively using cryptocurrencies as a tool to fight inflation since 2022. About 64% of crypto users in Argentina prefer centralized platforms (CEX). What’s notable is that none of Argentina’s leading crypto exchanges, including Binance, have a license from the local financial regulator, Comisión Nacional de Valores (CNV).
