Summary
- Although Argentine President Milei's party won the midterm elections, cryptocurrency policy has shown little progress contrary to expectations.
- The government strengthened anti-money laundering regulations through the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) law, but said direct benefits to cryptocurrency investors are limited.
- Industry experts say it's premature to expect investment gains until President Milei's pro-Bitcoin remarks lead to tangible policy changes.
President Javier Milei's party, La Libertad Avanza (LLA), won a landslide victory in this year's midterm elections, but analysts say the cryptocurrency industry is not necessarily in a celebratory mood.
According to CoinDesk on the 28th (local time), President Milei, even before taking office, argued that "central banks are a scam and Bitcoin (BTC) is a natural response to the central-bank scammers," and was regarded as a prominent pro-cryptocurrency figure. He also promised freedom of currency competition, saying, "If you want to use Bitcoin, there will be no problem."
However, since taking office the Milei government's cryptocurrency policy has shown little progress contrary to expectations.
In an early draft of the 'Law of Bases' submitted by the Milei government earlier this year, a one-time tax provision for cryptocurrency investors was included, but the government removed it citing delays in passing the bill. Instead, the 'Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) law' enacted in March (Law 27,739) strengthened anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, imposing registration and reporting obligations on exchanges and issuers.
Financial analyst Carlos Maslatón said, "President Milei is very interested in Bitcoin, but it's hard to say he fully understands its essence." Ramiro Marra, a member of the Buenos Aires City Legislature, pointed out, "It's difficult to find people within the government who properly understand cryptocurrencies."
Complicating matters was the 'Libra' memecoin incident. In February, immediately after President Milei posted about it on X (formerly Twitter), the token's price surged and plunged, sparking pump-and-dump controversy, and the lower house opened an investigation. Milei explained that "it was a simple share, not promotion, and most of the victims were foreigners."
The victory has given President Milei a stronger political base, but it remains unclear whether the cryptocurrency industry will actually benefit. Industry experts echoed that "it's premature to have expectations until Milei's pro-Bitcoin remarks translate into policy."
Son Min
sonmin@bloomingbit.ioHello I’m Son Min, a journalist at BloomingBit
