The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has soared to a new high in Argentina following the victory of Bitcoin-friendly presidential candidate Javier Milei in a primary election on Aug. 13. According to CoinGecko data, 1 BTC reached a value of 10 million Argentine pesos on Aug. 14.
Edit 16:16 UTC, August 17: While the 10 million pesos mark mentioned above references the “official” value, the Argentine parallel market, sometimes referred to as the “real value” market, shows the value of one Bitcoin at approximately 20.3 million Argentine pesos as of the time of this update, per CoinMonitor data.
Related: (CoinTelegraph en Español) Bitcoin ha superado los 22 millones de pesos en Argentina
While global cryptocurrency markets are experiencing a significant slump, Bitcoin is achieving new all-time highs in certain parts of the world. In Argentina, Bitcoin has experienced a sharp surge this week, with BTC rallying 21% from 8.4 million ARS to 10.2 million ARS in less than an hour on Monday.
Simultaneously, Bitcoin has been steadily increasing in value against ARS since late 2022. According to CoinGecko, Bitcoin has surged over 210% versus the Argentine peso since Aug. 17, 2022.
Following its record high, the BTC price versus ARS has slightly dropped. Currently, Bitcoin is trading at 9.9 million ARS, down approximately 3% from its all-time high levels.
The recent Bitcoin rally in Argentina has been attributed to the primary election win by pro-Bitcoin presidential candidate Milei. With over 30% of the votes, Milei is now the front-runner for Argentina’s general election in October.
Related: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vows to back US dollar with Bitcoin if elected president
As previously reported, Milei’s agenda includes the abolishment of the central bank and adoption of the United States dollar as Argentina’s currency. The presidential candidate also sees Bitcoin as a response to “central bank scammers,” while fiat currency allows politicians to take advantage of inflation to deceive Argentines.
While Bitcoin has reached record highs in Argentina recently, it has experienced a decline in global markets.
Since Aug. 14, Bitcoin has lost 3.7% of its value versus the U.S. dollar, falling below the psychological mark of $29,000 on Aug. 16, according to CoinGecko. At the time of writing, the cryptocurrency has gradually declined by nearly 5% over the past 30 days.
Argentina is not the only country witnessing Bitcoin reach its highest historical levels amidst massive inflation. Bitcoin has also been trading near all-time highs in countries like Turkey, which reportedly saw its inflation rate rise to nearly 50% in July 2023.
In July, Bitcoin climbed to its highest level against the Turkish lira, reaching a value of 819,000 TRY per 1 BTC, according to CoinGecko data.
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