Cryptocurrencies dominate headlines across the board in Argentina, with an ambitious private sector member bill proposing to legalize digital assets and launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that is heading towards a parliamentary vote.
According to iProUp, the bill is masterminded by Ignacio Torres, MP for the main opposition coalition party Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change).
The Torres bill is drafted jointly with pro-business lobbying groups and fintech industry bodies, but one hurdle remains for lawmakers in Argentina's House of Representatives, the House of Representatives, to vote on the measure: The bill must be passed by the FIU next week , The unit primarily tasked with monitoring matters related to Anti-Money Laundering (AML).
But if the regulator approves the bill and decides not to amend it before MPs vote, Argentine lawmakers could be given the power to grant legal status to cryptocurrencies. The bill also proposes to recognize that digital currencies have financial value - and would allow companies in the country to accept Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins and process cryptocurrencies.
Torres also wants the central bank to commit to launching the central bank's digital currency - the digital peso.
Elsewhere in the country, digital betting service Cloudbet has announced that it will launch its services in Argentina.
According to Criptonoticias, the company has created a website and blog in Spanish specifically for cryptocurrency gamblers residing in Argentina.
Cloudbet said it will offer sports betting and a "welcome bonus of up to 5 bitcoins" to new members from Latin America.
Media quoted a Cloudbet spokesperson as saying,
“Given so much interest, we think this is the ideal time to devote more resources to helping the Argentinian people understand the benefits of gambling with digital assets.”
The digital currency has even made celebrity-watching media pages, after reports surfaced that one of the country's biggest stars, Susanna Jimenez, 76, has a new boyfriend, Anibal - described as a "very successful" crypto businessman. It appears to be another way to inform the masses of the existence of digital currencies.
Many celebrities have reformed cryptocurrency investors.