As the cryptocurrency industry proliferates worldwide, its assets are becoming increasingly accepted into mainstream use, and recently, Argentina’s foreign minister has confirmed that the country’s new government has legalized the use of Bitcoin (BTC) for contractual agreements.
Indeed, Diana Mondino, the minister of foreign affairs, international trade, and worship of Argentina, was referring to a decree legitimizing the use of specific assets in contracts and for payments, stating it would also apply to Bitcoin, as she explained in an X post published on December 21.
As she said in her next post, this decree also refers to the use of “any other crypto and/or commodity, such as kilograms of beef or liters of milk,” adding an article from the decree aimed at economic reform and deregulation that further explains the matter:
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“Article 766. – Debtor’s obligation. The debtor must deliver the corresponding quantity of the designated currency, whether the currency is legal tender in the Republic or not.”
Pro-Bitcoin stance
It is worth noting that the announcement aligns with the focus of the new administration headed by the newly elected president of Argentina, Javier Milei, who has won the election against the former minister of economy, Sergio Massa, during whose tenure Argentina saw severe inflation.
As a reminder, the self-described anarcho-capitalist Milei is a Bitcoin supporter and has said that the maiden cryptocurrency “represents the return of money to its original creator, the private sector,” although he has not yet offered specific plans to make it legal tender.
On top of that, he is also a staunch opponent of the central banks, as he has argued that the “central bank is a scam, a mechanism by which politicians cheat the good people with inflationary tax” and promised to get rid of this institution, in addition to ending politicians’ privileges.
Interestingly, the new Argentinan president has even received support from the CEO of Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and another Bitcoin enthusiast, Elon Musk, who has predicted a period of prosperity for the country following Milei’s win, as Finbold reported in late November.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin was at press time changing hands at the price of $43,708, up 0.04% on the day, as well as gaining 2.11% across the week, and advancing 19.58% on its monthly chart, according to the latest information retrieved on December 22.
