Latin America Rising > Buenos Aires leading the way with cryptocurrency

 

Buenos Aires aims to be among leading cities for cryptocurrency use

By Francisca Orellana

   

Buenos Aires has allowed certain local taxes, vehicle registrations, driver’s licenses and fines to be paid with cryptocurrency for the first time. File Photo by Leo La Valle/EPA

Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Buenos Aires has allowed certain local taxes, vehicle registrations, driver's licenses and fines to be paid with cryptocurrency for the first time as part of an effort to position the Argentine capital as a leader in using digital currency.

"The goal is for the city to be a global leader in crypto. We already have the human capital, and now we are creating the tools by reducing bureaucracy to make compliance easier for taxpayers and to support the arrival of new companies setting up here," said Jorge Macri, chief of government of Buenos Aires, at the launch of the project.

The initiative, called Buenos Aires Cripto, includes measures to modernize the tax system, promote foreign investment and position the capital as a regional benchmark in the field.

"The digital economy requires us to update and adapt with a government that is modern, agile, efficient and smart," Macri said. He added that new tax measures are being introduced to give businesses a friendlier regulatory framework, including simpler tax filings and changes in how some taxes are calculated.

The shift reflects the fact that both companies and individuals use cryptocurrencies in daily life, including to receive payments from abroad.

As of 2024, about 10,000 Argentines were receiving salaries from abroad through crypto, PayPal or Brazil's central bank payment system, PIX. Buenos Aires also has more than 10 million crypto accounts, representing 22% of those opened in Latin America.

"The adoption of cryptocurrencies in Argentina is not new," said Carlos Torres, lead partner of the Payments Practice at consulting firm EY. He explained that the trend has been growing for several years as a result of Argentina's economic troubles.

"It has been driven mainly by inflation, economic instability and currency volatility, where cryptocurrency was seen as a refuge in the national context," he said.

Exchange platforms such as Binance and Lemon are widely used in Argentina, with Bitcoin leading as the main investment alternative.

Francisco Diaz, director of the business school at Universidad Mayor in Chile, said restrictions on the foreign exchange and international capital markets pushed Argentines to seek creative solutions for using foreign currency.

"Cryptocurrencies, particularly the more stable ones -- stablecoins -- have been widely adopted in recent years as a means of payment, a tool for receiving funds from abroad, for transactions and as a way to save in assets less exposed to inflation. That has expanded awareness and acceptance and fueled the growth of an ecosystem of entrepreneurs and companies tied to the crypto world," he said.

Analysts say the outlook is favorable for Buenos Aires to become a leading city in crypto.

"Given this context, I believe Argentina has all the conditions to expand the use of crypto, especially now that it has the regulatory framework launched in 2024," Torres said.

Argentina recorded the highest number of cryptocurrency users in Latin America in 2024, receiving $91.1 billion in assets, a 6.7% increase from 2023, according to the State of the Crypto Industry 2024 report by Lemon.

Globally, India ranked first, followed by Vietnam and the Philippines, according to the 2024 Global Crypto Adoption Index by Chainalysis.

"India stands out because of the size of its population, its widespread knowledge of technology and the broad use of the Internet and mobile devices, which create favorable conditions for developing this ecosystem," Torres said.

The use of virtual currencies brings benefits but also opens the door to crimes such as money laundering.

"The use of cryptocurrencies reduces transaction costs and makes it easier to create new financial instruments, but it also increases the risks of fraud, tax evasion and money laundering," Diaz said.

Recently, Argentina's Office of Economic Crime and Money Laundering reported a rise in the use of digital assets and virtual platforms to launder illicit funds or justify profits, mainly from drug trafficking.

The problem, Diaz warned, is that innovation is moving faster than regulation.

"It is the responsibility of governments and regulatory institutions, such as central banks, to create a framework that ensures transparency, traceability and cybersecurity. Digital technologies such as blockchain can facilitate traceability," he said.

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Islam Hates Jews > Trials for 1994 Buenos Aires Massacre 30 years later

 

Argentina orders trial in absentia for suspects in 

AMIA bombing in '94

By Mike Heuer

People attend an event commemorating the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Jewish Argentine Mutual Israelite Association (AMIA), in Buenos Aires in 2024. File Photo by Juan Ignacio Roncoroni/EPA-EFE

June 26 (UPI) -- Ten Iranian and Lebanese suspects will be tried in absentia for killing 85 and injuring more than 300 at the Argentine Mutual Israelite Association in Buenos Aires in 1994.

Argentine federal Judge Daniel Rafecas on Thursday applied the nation's new "trial in absentia" law to try the suspects for the terrorist bombing that is the deadliest terror attack in Argentina's history.

The families of truck-bombing victims Mario Averbuch and Luis Czyzewski recently petitioned Rafecas to apply the new law and end years of delays in the matter.

Officials in Argentina, the United States and Israel have accused Iran of ordering Hezbollah members to carry out the attack, The Times of Israel reported.

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The attack was the largest against a Jewish community that is located outside of Israel since the Holocaust, but no arrests have been made.

Rafecas ordered 10 defendants to be tried, including current Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader Ahmad Vahidi.

Other defendants to be tried in absentia include Ali Fallahijan, Ali Akbar Velayati, Mohsen Rezai, Hadi Soleimanpour and Mohsen Rabbani.

Also to be tried are Ahmad Reza Asghari, Salman Raouf Salman, Abdallah Salman and Hussein Mounir Mouzannar.

Argentine prosecutors in April also sought an arrest warrant for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

A trial in absentia would help to "uncover the truth and reconstruct what happened" before and during the truck bombing attack, Rafecas said.

He said the trial is justified due to the nature of the crime and that the suspects are unlikely to ever be tried in person or otherwise be held accountable.

The named defendants are former Lebanese and Iranian diplomats and ministers, for whom Argentina has issued international warrants for their arrest.

Iranian officials have denied any involvement in the bombing and refuse to arrest and extradite the suspects to Argentina.

This Week's Islamic Massacres > Iran celebrates 1994 Buenos Aires massacre with attack on Tel Aviv; Fulani Herdsmen massacre another 13 in Nigeria

 

Iran Marks its Mass Murder of Jews in Argentina with Tel Aviv Drone Attack

JUL 20, 2024 12:00 PM BY DANIEL GREENFIELD

The attack struck a building a block away from the US consulate.

On July 18, 1994, Hezbollah, directed by the Iranian Islamic regime carried out a truck bombing at the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina which killed 85 people and wounded over 300.

Iran decided to commemorate the occasion by using its Houthi terror group in Yemen to launch a drone attack on Tel Aviv. The attack, which struck a building a block away from the US consulate, killed one Israeli and wounded a number of others. The death toll would have been worse if it had not been carried out early in the morning. It’s unclear if the consulate was a target or if the building struck was even the target or a misfire.

It’s unknown if the overlap with the final night of the RNC convention and Trump’s speech was intentional, but Islamic terrorists tend to put a great deal of store into the specific dates of their attacks due to the pagan Islamic focus on astrology.

The attack does show the future of Islamic terrorism which is using terror areas as bases for missile and drone strikes across long distances. Look for this to come to Europe within a decade.

It also shows Biden’s abysmal failure to stop Houthi terror on the high seas after seven months of combat.

Finally, it’s a reminder that the perpetrators of the AMIA bombing were not brought to justice because of the corruption of local governments by Islamic interests.

Argentine President Javier Milei has announced that he will bring the perpetrators to justice.

Argentine President Javier Milei will submit a bill to try in absentia the Iranian suspects in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and wounded more than 300 others.

“Although they may never be able to serve a sentence, they will not be able to escape the eternal condemnation of a court proving their guilt in front of the whole world,” Milei said at a memorial on Wednesday night, on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the attack.

Milei vowed to beef up intelligence efforts to prevent future attacks and to allocate further government resources towards the AMIA investigation.

“Today we chose to speak out, not stay silent,” he said in his remarks at the memorial. “We’re raising our voice, not folding our arms. We choose life, because anything else is making a game out of death.”

Iran’s Islamic regime chooses death for the world. The world can submit and choose death or defy Islam and choose life.

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COMMENTS

Nigeria: Muslims murder 12 people in Benue state,

‘We are tired of this daily killing’

JUL 19, 2024 9:00 AM BY ROBERT SPENCER

“Those places are like the Fulani colony.”

That’s the idea: to expand the dar al Islam at the expense of the dar al harb. It’s easy when the Infidels refuse even to recognize what exactly is happening.

Armed Herdsmen Attack Benue Communities, Kill 13 Persons

Sahara Reporters, July 15, 2024:

Suspected armed herdsmen have reportedly invaded a Benue State community in separate attacks, killing at least 13 people.

It was gathered that 12 people were reportedly killed in Egwuma in Agatu on Sunday, and one displaced person returning from a farm in Gwer West LGA of the state.

A local source who spoke to journalists on Monday reported that one displaced person was injured, and five others are still missing.

At Egwumoa, in Agatu LGA, it was reported that suspected armed herders launched a deadly attack on the community.

Godwin Edoh, a lawmaker from the Agatu state constituency in the House of Assembly, also confirmed that 12 people were killed as reported.

He said, “We are tired of this daily killing at Ogbumogbo, Ejima and all those areas down to Ikpele, those villages have been deserted for close to one year. So, those places are like the Fulani colony.

“This one happened yesterday (Sunday) 12 people were killed.”

When told that the governor said relative peace had returned and that IDPs are going back to their ancestral homes, the lawmaker said, “It’s a lie, they are talking nonsense. There is no peace anywhere.”

“Even the IDPs they said have returned, if you go there you will see them there, so I don’t know why they use propaganda, it’s not correct….

General Strike Brings Argentina to a Halt

The theory is that Argentina is on strike because of the economy, but that's the excuse, not the reason. I predicted a national revolt in Argentina more than a week ago after their World Cup tie with Iceland. I told a friend that if they lost to Croatia, which they did - 3 nil, there would be a national revolt in Argentina. Messi, it's all your fault!

By Danielle Haynes

Dozens of militants from left parties and social organizations demonstrate at the Obelisk Square during the general strike in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Monday. Photo by David Fernandez/EPA-EFE

UPI -- A general strike in Argentina brought transportation, schools and other services to a halt Monday as major workers' unions protested a $50 billion International Monetary Fund loan.

Trains, buses and the underground rail system stopped and there was no air or maritime transportation nationwide, affecting at least 15 million in the capital of Buenos Aires alone.

President Mauricio Macri said he made the decision to take the IMF loan in order to avoid an economic crisis.

In addition to rejecting the IMF agreement, the General Confederation of Workers protested Macri's general economic policies and called for a 30 percent pay increase. It was the third general strike against the president.

The General Confederation of Workers had warned the government it would hold a general strike if Macri didn't veto a law to roll back water, electricity and gas tariffs to November prices.

"The strike does not contribute to anything," Macri said. "Our economy will start growing again, but for that we need to sit round the table and decide what each one of us has to do," he added.

Union representatives said they'd be willing to negotiate with the government.

"There is a new opportunity and I hope the government has understood what today's strike means," said Carlos Acuña, a leader of the General Confederation of Workers.