Skip to main content

Argentina’s Example Shows That You Don’t Own Your Money

Argentina's Example Shows That You Don’t Own Your Money

Cash shortages, bank closures and ATMs running out of funds seems to be the new norm for many countries, and recently increased capital controls in Argentina are further testament to this unsettling trend. Sunday’s election of president Alberto Fernández has resulted in Argentine account holders being limited to USD purchases of $200 via bank account and $100 via cash monthly. As protests continue to mount worldwide, the signs don’t look good for fiat money or the people who hold it.

Also Read: Low Interest Rates Are Crushing Young People and Fueling Global Riots

In the Name of Saving Central Banks

Unlike a normal business in the private sector, government organizations and the institutions embedded therein are often immune from market consequence. This fact was possibly hinted at by the creator of Bitcoin himself when he included the text “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks” in the genesis block. The Argentinian central bank crackdown on USD purchases is further proof of this notable lack of consequence for policy makers.

According to reports, the new limit on USD purchases in Argentina is designed to “preserve the reserves of the Central Bank.” The Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) said in a statement that “Given the current degree of uncertainty, the Board of Directors of BCRA decided to take a series of measures this Sunday that seek to preserve the reserves of the Central Bank. The measures announced are temporary, until December 2019.” The bank is worried about the potential collapse of the Argentine peso (ARS), which has devalued by almost 85% in just under four years.

Fernández is set to fully assume the role of president on December 10, and Argentines were already preparing for possible increased controls in the wake of his election. As the Buenos Aires Times relays:

Last week Argentines rushed to buy dollars and withdraw deposits ahead of the vote on concern that more controls were coming amid an economic crisis.

Argentina's Example Shows That You Don’t Own Your Money

From Prosperity to Fiat Panic

Though news.Bitcoin.com had reported in early September that the lesser capital controls of that time (a purchase limit of $10,000 USD per month) mostly affected businesses, the new, stricter regime of $200 per month affects potentially everyone. Though the measures are said to be temporary, uncertainty remains and understandably so. Governments have never been dependable when it comes to money management. Indeed, as Ana Eiras and Brett Schaefer of the Heritage Foundation noted back in 2001:

Poor economic policies and political instability contributed to Argentina’s decline from its noteworthy position as the world’s 10th wealthiest nation in 1913 to the world’s 36th wealthiest in 1998.

The article goes on to note that centralized policy guidance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) only made things worse, claiming “Argentina is the only wealthy country to experience so great a reversal in recent history, despite the involvement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Indeed, the IMF’s loans and guidance have aggravated, not alleviated, Argentina’s problems.”

Argentina's Example Shows That You Don’t Own Your Money

Your Money Is Not Yours

Protests against unfair and reckless economic policy are currently happening worldwide. Along with Argentina, Chile, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Egypt and Lebanon are some of the current hotbeds of economic unrest. India’s case is particularly noteworthy as reports have emerged of people dying as a result of lack of access to the money in their bank accounts. As for Lebanon, banks have now been closed for over a week, with news outlet Aljazeera reporting on October 29:

Lebanon’s banking association said banks would remain shut on Tuesday for a tenth straight working day, but said the central bank had provided the liquidity necessary to pay out salaries for public sector workers, including members of security forces.

In Chile ATMs are reportedly running out of cash and becoming non-functional amidst the turmoil of current protests, seeing grocery stores begin to run out of food and infrastructure being burned and destroyed by frustrated demonstrators. Meanwhile, central banks and financial planners continue to drive the world economy further into debt-based dysfunction via negative rate policies, quantitative easing, and a fiat printing press.

When the rubber meets the road, it is always the individuals in these countries who must pay, as recent events are showing. When a restaurant serves awful food with poor service in the private sector, it goes out of business. When the state destroys an economy, they simply raise taxes, lock up the money, devalue it and make you pay for their mistakes. In light of this knowledge, the demand for economically sound, permissionless alternatives like bitcoin grows more and more pronounced, as individuals worldwide realize full ownership of their hard-earned assets is a basic human right.

What are your thoughts on situation in Argentina and ownership of fiat money? Let us know in the comments section below.

Op-ed disclaimer: This is an Op-ed article. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the Op-ed article. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the content. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any information in this Op-ed article.


Image credits: Shutterstock, Federico Rotter, fair use.


Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The Local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here.

The post Argentina’s Example Shows That You Don’t Own Your Money appeared first on Bitcoin News.



from Bitcoin News https://ift.tt/2MXBnUk

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Deep Web Roundup: Dream Adds Monero and Bitcoin Tumbler “Chip Mixer” Launches

The darknet has been quiet of late, which is the way it’s meant to be. No news means no mega busts, honeypots, or mass market shutdowns. Even when it’s out of the spotlight though, the deep web is quietly making news, whether trialling the latest privacy coins or the newest coin mixers that promise to restore a little of the privacy that’s being stripped away from bitcoin users on a daily basis. Also read: U.S. Agency ICE Conducts Investigations That Exploit Blockchain Activity The Battle for Privacy Heats Up Privacy is all relative, but of late there’s been relatively little privacy to be enjoyed by bitcoin users. Blockchain monitoring software is becoming more sophisticated and more common, with U.S. law enforcement agencies using it to profile and hunt down deep web users. Chip Mixer is a relatively new bitcoin tumbler that’s designed to restore some of that privacy. Available on both the clearnet and darknet, the service uses a variety of techniques to obfuscate blockchain m...

Ombudsman Receives Complaints About Crypto Investments in Spain

The Spanish ombudsman has been receiving complaints about cryptocurrency and how some Spanish citizens investing in these vehicles have lost everything. In his annual report, Angel Gabilondo recognized the rise of cryptocurrencies as a new problem due to the little or no regulation crypto sees in the country. In the same way, the EU has also warned about these assets recently. Spanish Ombudsman Gives His Take on Crypto Angel Gabilondo, the Spanish ombudsman, has given his take regarding cryptocurrencies and the effects they have on citizens investing in some of these projects. Gabilondo said in his yearly report that cryptocurrencies have become “a new problem” during the year examined, with many people having lost all of their funds invested. The report states : Cryptocurrency exchange companies or platforms are not regulated in the legal system, are not subject to any public supervision system, nor do they benefit from deposit guarantee systems. The affected users that sought...

2021 Bitcoin Price Predictions: Analysts Forecast BTC Values Will Range Between Zero to $600K

As bitcoin has touched new price highs on Thursday nearing the $50k handle, people have been curious as to where the price will go in the future. Meanwhile, despite the gains so far, a number of luminaries, analysts, executives, and proponents from the crypto space believe the leading crypto asset will reach between $60k to six-digits this year. Mike Novogratz Predicts $100K Bitcoin: ‘Other CFOs and CEOs Are Saying, What Should We Be Doing?’ Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention has gained mass appeal in recent times as the leading digital asset bitcoin ( BTC ) has reached its highest value ever in 2021. On Thursday morning (EST), BTC spiked to an all-time high (ATH) at $48,697 per unit. Earlier in the morning at around 2 a.m., bitcoin was exchanging hands for $44,485 and saw an 8.98% increase since then. At the time of publication, at 6:30 p.m. (EST) on February 11, 2021, bitcoin (BTC) is swapping for $47,821 per coin. With BTC so close to the $50k mark, people have been forecasting ...