The Argentine Peso is in a free fall.
Earlier this morning, the Argentine Peso fell more than 25% against the US Dollar after an unexpected win by an opposition candidate in the country's presidential primary election. A startling reminder of the fickleness of some currencies around the world. And particularly the fickleness of the Peso, a currency with a very volatile history. As you can see from the chart below, the Peso has not been fairing well against the dollar for the last four years. Having experienced multiple short-term ~25-50% declines over that period.
Ouch! #Argentina Peso in free fall after a populist opposition candidate routed President Mauricio Macri in a shock primary election result. Plunges to fresh life-time low 59 per Dollar. pic.twitter.com/kh9R2jjxgR
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) August 12, 2019
Just another snowflake on the mountain of variables that are playing into the current macro shitshow the world finds itself in. And yet another reminder of Bitcoin's value prop as a sound currency in the Digital Age. As I type, the BTC/ARS cross is hovering near its all-time high as BTC/USD remains ~40% below its all-time high.
It has been said many times before, Bitcoin is the apex predator of currencies. Slowly but surely, it provides the individuals in countries with weak currencies the ability to preserve their purchasing power over time. Especially if they don't have easy access to stronger currencies like the Dollar.
Uncle Marty would love to find out whether or not Argentines are actually turning to Bitcoin to protect their purchasing power. Buying out of perceived necessity and not pure speculation. We like to think that the uncertainty that exists in countries like China, Argentina and Iran is a catalyst to incite a flight to Bitcoin, but, for example, it appears that BTC and Tether are trading at a discount in China. Which would signal relatively low demand for BTC as a safe haven. Though, I would think that it is probably very hard to measure actual enthusiasm for Bitcoin in countries like China due to the nature of P2P trading over apps like WeChat.
What we can say for sure is that the Bitcoin network should remain reliable for individuals in these countries looking for alternative stores of value. Producing blocks roughly every ten minutes to enable the exchange of peer to peer digital cash for consenting beings.
Final thought...
Long car rides that begin at 6:45am aren't fun.
