Last December, I wrote about how thousands of bitcoin users in Argentina embraced the digital currency because the Argentine Peso is so volatile. The New York Times has an in depth article about middleman Dante Castiglion, who runs BitPay's office in Argentina, and why bitcoin is so successful in Argentina. BitPay is a bridge between bitcoin and fiat currency and allows transactions between the two. The article states:
That mundane service — harnessing Bitcoin’s workaday utility — is what so excites some investors and entrepreneurs about Argentina. Banks everywhere hold money and move it around; they help make it possible for money to function as both a store of value and a medium of exchange. But thanks in large part to their country’s history of financial instability, a small yet growing number of Argentines are now using Bitcoin instead to fill those roles. They keep the currency in their Bitcoin “wallets,” digital accounts they access with a password, and use its network when they need to send or spend money, because even with Castiglione or one of his competitors serving as middlemen between the traditional economy and the Bitcoin marketplace, Bitcoin can be cheaper and more convenient than Argentina’s financial establishment. In effect, Argentines are conducting an ambitious experiment, one that threatens ultimately to spread to the United States and disrupt some of the most basic services its banks have to offer.
That conclusion statement is powerful indeed! Click through to read this update on Argentina and it's increasing use of bitcoin for daily currency.