Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: Argentina prepares for a run-off election with crypto on the agenda, Colombia works to formulate a digital peso, and Prosegur will build a crypto-secure bunker in Brazil.
Argentina Will Face a Run-off Election With Crypto on the Agenda
The first round of the presidential election in Argentina determined that Javier Milei, the libertarian candidate, and Sergio Massa, the current economy minister, will be facing a run-off election that has a crypto element to it.
While Milei has repeatedly proposed the elimination of the Central Bank of Argentina and the adoption of the dollar as legal tender in the country as the main points of his hypothetical administration, Massa recently discussed the creation of a national digital currency, which would be used by his administration to reduce tax costs and curbing tax evasion by bringing more of the Argentine economy to formality.
Massa, who led the first round in the election, also added another element to consider: the possibility of using gas from Vaca Muerta, one of the most significant Argentine crude oil deposits, to mine bitcoin.
At a meeting with Argentine cryptocurrency enthusiast Santiago Siri, Massa stated:
I like the Vaca Muerta proposal because it results in the reduction of carbon emissions. It has all the symbolic capital that Argentina needs in the coming years.
Colombia Advances to Create a Digital Peso
Ricardo Bonilla, economy minister of Colombia, recently revealed that the country was still working on creating a national central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital peso. During a forum that examined the future of banking, Bonilla called Colombians to forget about cash, also charging against cryptocurrencies, stressing these were not “the best means for clear and transparent transactions.”
Bonilla clarified that the construction of the digital peso was being examined by the Central Bank of Colombia, the Superfinanciera (the national stock and financial regulator), the economy ministry, and the Congress. He added that the central bank would be the issuer of any CBDC.
Prosegur Will Build a Secure Crypto Bunker in Brazil
Prosegur, a Spain-based insurance and security company, announced that it will build a secure facility for cryptocurrency in Brazil. The so-called “bunker,” to be built in Sao Paolo, will include several security measures to avoid attacks, including 24/7 monitoring by redundant vigilance centers and a fog machine capable of filling the bunker in 30 seconds, leaving attackers trapped.
Jose Angel Fernandez Freire, Prosegur’s executive president, said that clear regulations helped the company build this facility in Brazil as an entrance door to provide these services to entities in other countries like Chile.
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