Debt or blockchain: Argentina between crisis and cryptocurrency future

​Argentina has once again captured the world’s attention. Peso devaluation, inflation, bonds with sky-high yields, and shitcoin scandals — all of this creates the impression that the country is moving not toward reforms but toward another crisis. President Javier Milei promised to “break the system” and open the way to the future, but so far Argentines only see old problems in new wrapping.

It’s no surprise that criticism has started to mount. Economist and bestselling author of The Bitcoin Standard Saifedean Ammous, in a social media post, called Milei’s policy a “debt and inflation pyramid” and warned that the country is turning into a “casino for speculators.”

Milei and his economic course

When Javier Milei came to power, he promised a radical break with the past: to shut down the central bank, tame inflation, and restore Argentines’ trust in money. Almost two years have passed, and no drastic changes have taken place.

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The peso continues to depreciate rapidly: in just recent months, it has lost over 10% against the dollar and moved outside the “corridor” the government was trying to defend. The money supply is also growing — in June 2025, M2 exceeded 80.9 trillion pesos, compared to 75 trillion in May. In other words, the government is printing money faster than it promised.

Inflation remains high. Although the government projects it will slow to 10% in 2026, today Argentines are dealing with price increases that eat up any wages or savings. Bonds are being sold at astronomical 80–90% annual rates, while banks are forced to buy them under new regulatory requirements.Against this backdrop, the scandal over the LIBRA token — a memecoin that Milei promoted on social media — was especially loud. 

After a short rally, the token collapsed, and investors reported losses of about $107 million. Some market participants managed to cash out, but for most it ended in losing their savings. The president distanced himself, claiming he had no involvement in the project’s structure. However, the Chamber of Deputies formed a commission to investigate, and LIBRA became a symbol of how Milei’s experiments only undermine confidence in economic policy.

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The “financial bicycle”

In parallel, the country spins on what is known as the bicicleta financiera — the “financial bicycle.” The scheme is simple: the state issues bonds with such high yields that they even outpace peso devaluation. Those who have dollars enter this market, buy bonds, and for a while feel like winners.

But this bicycle only runs as long as the government keeps printing new money and paying off old debts. And everyone knows: one day the chain will slip. Those who jump off in time will save their wealth. The rest will crash with the market.

Big players know how to do this well. In the spring, J.P. Morgan advised its clients to buy Argentine bonds, and by summer — to exit. As a result, insiders pocketed double-digit annual returns, while ordinary Argentines were left with empty pockets and a devalued peso. For them, this bicicleta turns into Russian roulette: if you’re lucky, you live better for a few months; if not, your whole family goes to bed hungry.

El Salvador and Venezuela: Two examples

Latin America already has experience with state-led crypto experiments. The first country to dare a real “Bitcoin experiment” was El Salvador. In 2021, President Nayib Bukele made BTC legal tender. The world shook its head skeptically: a heavily indebted, dollarized country without its own monetary policy now adding Bitcoin?

But years passed, and catastrophe never came. On the contrary, El Salvador accumulated over 6,000 BTC (as of September 2025 worth about $700 million) and even mines some with geothermal power plants. The country has become a kind of crypto showroom: tourists and investors come to see how an “economy with Bitcoin in your pocket” works.

It wasn’t without roadblocks, though. The IMF immediately pushed back: if the country wanted new loans, it had to abandon the idea of “national Bitcoin.” The government compromised — businesses no longer had to accept BTC, only optionally. Surveys show that nearly half of citizens used Bitcoin a few times a year, mostly in supermarkets. In everyday life, it never replaced the dollar, but it gave El Salvador the image of an innovation pioneer.

Venezuela took a different path. In 2018, Nicolás Maduro’s regime launched Petro — a cryptocurrency supposedly backed by oil reserves. The plan was ambitious: create a “digital oil economy” and save the country from hyperinflation. Reality was far bleaker. Almost no one used Petro, it wasn’t accepted on international exchanges, and the population quickly realized: the token was just another way for the government to shift the crisis onto the people. Venezuelans still seek refuge in private cryptocurrencies and P2P platforms, while Petro remains a symbol of failed experiments.

Two examples, two stories. El Salvador used crypto to lift its image and attract new money. Venezuela used it as decoration for the ruins of its economy. And now the question arises: where between these extremes will Argentina end up? Can Milei repeat Bukele’s story, or is he at risk of becoming a new Maduro with his “phantom crypto projects”?

Crypto as a safe haven

While the authorities experiment, Argentines themselves have long found their own way out. For them, stablecoins like USDT or USDC are a way to avoid devaluation. Bitcoin is a store of value in a country where bank deposits lose worth faster than they accrue interest. And Solana has recently become another popular tool: thanks to fast and cheap transactions, it is used for daily payments and transfers, and some investors see SOL as an alternative “store of value.”

Argentina consistently ranks in the global top 10 by number of crypto holders. And unlike the state-run projects of El Salvador or Venezuela, this is a true “bottom-up crypto-economy.” It doesn’t need political slogans — it is built by citizens themselves, protecting their savings.

Today’s Argentina is a country where politicians play high-risk financial experiments, while people seek refuge in cryptocurrency. One world spins on the debt bicycle, the other — on the blockchain. And this contrast shows that the future of the economy here is being decided not in government offices, but in ordinary people’s wallets.