Growing inflation and exchange rate uncertainty as constants in the Argentine economic scenario make those who invest in cryptocurrencies prioritize the coverage of their capital, before the potential profits of crypto assets and turn to
"stable currencies" or the well-known "crypto dollar." ".
The data arises from a report prepared by the
Bitso
platform that carried out an analysis of the crypto ecosystem throughout the region and found that, unlike what happens in other countries, where
bitcoin is the currency most chosen
by users;
Argentines prefer the crypto dollar.
The Bitso study shows that, at the regional level, 38% of the cryptocurrencies acquired during the second half of 2023 correspond to bitcoin and 30% to digital dollars.
However,
in Argentina, bitcoin purchases barely reach 13% of operations;
while 60% correspond to stable currencies.
“High inflation rates create an incentive for consumers to look for
safe and fast options
to protect their money from devaluation.
For this reason, Argentina is the only country where Bitso operates in which
the purchase of crypto dollars is almost five times that of bitcoin
,” explained Julián Colombo, General Director of Bitso Argentina, during the presentation of the report.
The Argentines' search for "coverage" is reflected in other behaviors: “We noticed that
in the first week of the month there is 10% more average traded volume
, with the digital dollar always in first place.
This behavior coincides with the
collection of wages
, to protect income from devaluation," Colombo said.
Although in Argentina bitcoin is also the main component of the average portfolio, contributing 48% of total holdings, the second most important is the crypto dollar (USD stablecoins and USDT) which represents an average of 26%.
Third place is occupied by ether (ETH), with 14%.
“This trend of overrepresentation of stable currencies is shared by Colombia, also with some exchange rate instability.
However, Mexico and Brazil, with much more stable macroeconomic indicators, show a different panorama, where stablecoins represent a single-digit figure and the holding of local currency in the portfolio is greater.
In this way,
Argentina is not only the country where most crypto dollars are purchased in the entire region,
it is also where its holding is by far the highest,” Colombo highlighted.
On the other hand, the data analyzed from the more than 8 million Bitso users suggests that large holders of cryptocurrencies remain in the long term, demonstrating
widespread confidence in the market recovery
after the difficulties of the crypto industry. end of 2022 and beginning of 2023 and the expectations for a new and long-awaited “crypto summer”.
Crypto User Profile
The report also identifies the user profile in Latin America, detailing data such as gender, age and geographical location, and highlights that in Argentina Bitso clients
grew 16% year-on-year
during the second half and already exceed one and a half million.
With respect to gender, there is an interannual growth of 3 percentage points in
women
who operated crypto in the second half of the year.
However,
their participation is still lower
than that of men, reaching just
27% of the total users in the region.
The report also highlights that women tend to join the crypto world at
an older age.
“Women feel more confident in acquiring cryptocurrencies with age, which could be related to the late independence and financial stability that they usually face in the region unlike men,” according to the report.
NE