Argentina is once again showing its interest in cryptocurrencies. The province of Mendoza has announced that it has implemented a system that allows residents to pay their taxes using stablecoins, including DAI and USDT.
Argentina opens up a little more to cryptos
While this announcement was rather expected on the Buenos Aires side, it was finally Mendoza that jumped in first. The eponymous province, located in the west of Argentina, announced this week the addition of a cryptocurrency payment option for local taxes.
The region is inhabited by about 1.7 million residents, who will now have an additional option to pay their taxes. According to a statement from the Mendoza Tax Administration (ATM), this initiative is part of an effort to “modernize and innovate,” as Nicolas Chávez, director general of the Mendoza Tax Administration, explains:
“This is one more door to facilitate the payment of taxes to taxpayers. It is a service offered by the payment processor with which we have incorporated new technologies, such as virtual wallets and cryptocurrencies.”
For now, the two cryptocurrencies selected are stablecoins: the DAI and USDT. Specifically, the administration’s website will generate a QR code that taxpayers can scan with their cryptocurrency wallets to validate the payment.
Upon receipt of the stablecoins, the Mendoza Tax Administration said it will immediately convert the stablecoins into pesos and provide payers with a receipt for the transaction. Thus, the will is simply to diversify the payment options for their residents.
Argentina and cryptocurrencies
Just like many other Latin American countries, Argentina has never been unaffected by cryptocurrencies. In August 2021, a few days before El Salvador’s announcement, the Argentine president had even mentioned the idea of making Bitcoin (BTC) a legal currency in his territory.
Similarly, the Argentine people seem to be very open to digital currencies. And for good reason, with an estimated inflation of 90.2% for the year 2022, it is totally legitimate to want to find an alternative to the Argentine peso, whether it be on the side of Bitcoin or stablecoins.
With an estimated inflation rate of 8.5% for the year 2022, the U.S. dollar obviously seems a more attractive option. That’s why, over the last few months, stablecoins backed by the U.S. dollar have been exceptionally popular in Argentina, so much so that the federal government has adopted restrictions against them.
Last month, Argentina’s central bank said that anyone buying cryptocurrencies would be banned from the country’s foreign exchange market, in an effort to curb conversions into U.S. dollars and the Argentine peso’s plunge.
While the country seemed to be off to a relatively good start in its adoption of crypto-currencies, relations have finally soured. More than ever, Bitcoin seems like a tangible solution to Argentina’s problems…
