Javier Milei’s Crypto Revolution—Could XRP Replace the Peso in Argentina?

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  • Javier Millei is the president of Argentina, a country that needs XRP more than most as inflation wreaks havoc on the economy and the peso continues to lose its value.
  • Will the new pro-crypto president select XRP as his crypto of choice, and could XRP be on its way to replacing the peso as Argentinians’ payment method of choice?

Javier Milei is set to become Argentina’s next president after his main opponent, Sergio Massa, conceded defeat in one of the world’s most closely followed elections. The eccentric politician has a lot of work to do if he’s to get Argentina back on track, and he has promised to “take a chainsaw to the state.” While the world waits to see what his policies on inflation, crime, the wars in Europe and more will be, some in the crypto community believe XRP could be central to his economic transformation plans.

Milei is a former TV personality turned politician who draws a lot of comparison to former US president Donald Trump. However, while his American counterpart is an avid crypto hater, Milei loves Bitcoin.

Milei has taken to media interviews and social media to tout Bitcoin as the best currency system in the world and to take shots at the Argentine central bank. He has described the apex bank as a scam which he says is used to benefit a few at the peril of the many. He took power on the promise of taking away some of the power of the top bank.

Milei once famously said that Bitcoin is “the return of money to its original creator, the private sector.”

There’s no question that Argentina will now become one of the friendliest states to the Bitcoin community and it would not surprise many if Milei cut down on crypto taxes to attract the community. But where does XRP fit in all this?

Where Does XRP Fit in Milei’s Argentina?

Milei loves Bitcoin. But if he’s to transform Argentina based on crypto, then Bitcoin isn’t going to be his weapon. BTC is the king in a lot of things, including number of users and popularity in the mainstream sectors.

However, it also fails in a lot more facets that are critical in building a national financial ecosystem. One critical factor is speed—Bitcoin has averaged less than seven transactions per second since its launch over a decade ago. In contrast, VISA, which BTC would be competing against, does 1,700 a day and can even hit 56,000 tps.

BTC also fails in transaction fees. At press time, a Bitcoin transaction costs $10,35, which is way too much for day-to-day payments.

In comes XRP. It outdoes Bitcoin in all these metrics, and with some of the lowest fees in the blockchain world and instant transactions, would be the perfect blockchain to build Argentina’s new financial industry on.

As some pointed out on social media, leading Argentinian private bank Banco Galicia has already jumped on the bandwagon. Earlier this year, it enabled crypto services, and XRP was one of the cryptos it offers.

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