Facing Financial Crisis, Can Argentines Look to Bitcoin?

Few countries have as deep and long-lasting a history of financial crises as Argentina.

Given how otherwise blessed it is with natural and human resources, Argentina is Exhibit A in the argument that repeated monetary mismanagement will do lasting harm to long-term prosperity. A century of such crises, which has bred profound mistrust of the institutions of government among Argentines, took their country from being the seventh-richest nation on earth to the 75th.

Now, with the advent of cryptocurrencies and blockchains, some finally a way out of this trap of mistrust. It’s no coincidence that Argentina has a relatively high level of bitcoin adoption nor that it has contributed a disproportionately high number of successful developers to the global crypto community.

But is crypto the answer, or should Argentines continue to work within the system to get the accountable government they deserve?

We explore that question, along with a deep dive into just what it is that explains Argentina’s uniquely dysfunctional economic experience, in his week’s edition of “Money Reimagined.” We’re joined by Lucas Llach, a professor of economics at Torcuato di Tella University in Buenos Aires, and Santiago Siri, the founder of Democracy Earth, a radical, blockchain-based solution for democracy inspired his struggles to reform government in his native Argentina.