The libertarian and anti-system candidate Javier Milei win the Argentine presidential primary. THE bitcoin advocate (BTC) and central bank critic created a surprise in the country, relegating this Sunday the traditional candidates of the right and left to the 2ᵉ and 3ᵉ places, thereby driving up the price of its digital asset favorite.
Who is Javier Milei?
Javier Milei is a Argentinian economist and politician. He is the leader of the libertarian party, La Libertad Avanza, and is a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina since 2021.
After getting a doctorate in economics at Torcuato Di Tella University, Milei worked as economist for HSBC bank and later was professor of economics at the University of Buenos Aires.
In 2020, Milei founds the Libertarian Party “La Libertad Advance”. This makes noise from 2021 by winning 17% of the votes in the legislative elections, which therefore makes it the third most popular party in Argentina.
A controversial figure in Argentina, Milei is sometimes accused of populism and extremism. However, the presidential candidate is very popular with youth and urban votersadvocating in particular theArgentine central bank inefficiency and holding strong anti-inflation rhetoric.
Indeed, in a country where inflation hits triple digits116%, a record level over the past 30 years, Milei says he is inclined to a process of dollarization of the economy and stands in defender of bitcoin (BTC).
“The central bank is a scam, a mechanism by which politicians deceive the common people with an inflationary tax. With regard to Bitcoin, the latter represents the return of money to its original creator, namely the private sector. »
On August 13, the pro Bitcoin candidate came out on top in the presidential primary, his party party “La Libertad Avanza” (Freedom advances), sweeping 30.5% of votes. The reaction of the crypto market was not long in coming…
Bitcoin Price Climbs in Argentina Following Presidential Primary Results
Bitcoin has gradually lost in price against the US dollar lately. Over the last 7 days, BTC has lost 3.58% against the dollar, according to data from CoinMarketCap, dropping below the psychological benchmark of $29,000.
At the same time, and following the announcement of Javier Milei’s victory, the price of Bitcoin has reached a new high in Argentina. The BTC typed the 10.3 million Argentine pesos on August 15according to data from CoinMarketCap.
The first increase took place in less than an hour on Monday, hence this extremely steep curve that can be seen on the BTC/ARS graph. It’s about a increase of more than 21% for the BTC against the ARS, something that certainly did not displease the local holders.
At the same time, bitcoin has steadily increased in value against the Argentinian peso since the end of 2022. According to CoinMarketCap, bitcoin jumped more than 210% against the Argentinian peso since August 17, 2022.
Finally, note that since the record was reached on August 15, the price of BTC experienced a slight and steady decline against the Argentinian peso. At the time of writing, bitcoin is trading for ARS 9.9 milliondown about 3% from its all-time high reached earlier in the week.
If BTC explodes in Argentina this week after the primary, the Argentinian market could experience new records if the controversial Javier Milei were to be elected president next October. The BTC/ARS soap opera therefore remains to be followed.
Sources: CoinMarketCap, Courrier International, Cointelegraph