Is bitcoin Argentina's solution?
However, it is U.S. investor Tim Draper who has a clear stance on what Macri should decide to change course and get up again. The renowned venture capitalist met with the president in March and approached him with a proposal that "surprised" the government.
Draper, trained at Harvard and Stanford and founder of the firms Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Draper Associates and Draper University, advised the Argentine president changes to attract entrepreneurs because the investor fears that the most qualified people will leave the country. The proposal is to legalize and adopt bitcoin instead of the national peso.
"With Macri we talked about bitcoin and the devaluation of the peso, and I proposed a bet: if the peso was valued more than the bitcoin, I duplicate the investment I am making in the country (he landed in Argentina with the Draper Cygnus fund); if the bitcoin acquires more value than the peso, he will have to declare the bitcoin national currency. It would be a perfect solution because there is no confidence in the currency", explained Draper, who spoke in one of the rooms of the Ministry of Production in the framework of the summit of Fintech + Blockchain.
Why should Argentina get rid of its devalued currency and switch to crypto?
The billionaire with a US$2 billion fund network explains: "I said bitcoin is going to be worth US$250,000 between 2022 and 2023. And I believe it. That means it's going to have 5% of the market for all the world's currencies. That's definitely going to happen because as soon as you can use bitcoins like pesos or dollars, people are going to choose it, because it's decentralized and open, frictionless and global.
He added: "It's a great currency, while the peso, like others, is tied to what the government does. They are political currencies. You're forced into something you might not want to get into, and you have to deal with that falling currency. People are going to choose bitcoin over the peso a lot more once they can do all the things they do with the peso today.
Draper is one of those convinced of bitcoin beyond the loss of power he suffered from 2017 to the present day. Even in dialogue with Fox Business, she imagined a situation:
"I think when you go to Starbucks to buy coffee and try to pay with dollars, they'll laugh because you don't use bitcoins or cryptocurrency. It will be like that grandmother who pays with pennies today.
Beyond the national government's trust and admiration for Draper, it is not considering this option at this time. The change would be huge for the population, which is hit by the inflation that lives daily. The priorities of Cambiemos, the ruling party, are other: to reduce unemployment, lower inflation, and job creation.
Bitcoin appears as the currency of the future, as many experts say, and the country governed by Macri does not find a clear direction. Will cryptocurrency be what will allow him to return to the foreground? He has already taken some steps towards implementation in his law: government bodies are working on it.