The ban imposed by Argentina’s central bank on purchasing crypto with credit cards appears to have produced an opposite effect on bitcoin’s trading volumes as the bitcoin trading volume has hit a new all-time high in Argentina.
Proving its resilience against the whims of centralized authorities, bitcoin’s trading volumes in Argentina have just reached a new record high in the local currency just days after the country’s central bank prohibited purchasing crypto with credit cards. Bitcoin trading volume just hit a new all-time high in Argentina. Last week, the Central Bank restricted both the purchasing of bitcoin with credit/debit cards and limited how much US dollars citizens could buy at $200 a month.
The Central Bank of Argentina (BCA), in an attempt to preserve its foreign exchange reserves, had barred its citizens from buying cryptocurrencies with credit or debit cards on October 31. Since then, cryptocurrency investors were only able to transfer funds from their bank accounts.
It wasn’t a Bitcoin-specific clampdown since Argentina also moved to slash its citizens’ US Dollar purchases, but that was a worrisome sign for the local crypto industry nonetheless.
However, despite the alarming ban, Bitcoin continues to thrive, reaching a record-breaking trading volume in the Argentine peso (ARS). It is worth mentioning here that Argentina’s currency took a 39 percent nosedive on August 12 after it became clear that left-wing rival Alberto Fernández would be able to win the presidency. Bitcoin was trading with a $1,000 on LocalBitcoins, a popular peer-to-peer crypto exchange.
Plagued with political uncertainty and economic instability, Argentina remains a major crypto hub in Latin America. Bitcoin ATM providers see it as one of the main destinations for their expansion.
In this background, BCA wrote in a recent message that purchasing cryptocurrencies with certain payments are banned. The payment method in question is credit cards, with the bank writing: “Acquisition of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies: It is prohibited to purchase BTC with this payment method. The only remaining alternative for this investment is to do so with funds transferred from a bank account.”
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