• Argentina’s securities regulator approved the Bitcoin futures index to debut in May.
• The contract will be based on the price of BTC and settled in Argentine pesos.
• The launch of the Bitcoin futures contract comes just a week after Coinbase CEO urged Brazil and Argentina to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
Argentina Securities Regulator Approves Bitcoin Futures Index
The National Commission of Value (CNV), Argentina’s securities regulator, has approved a first-of-its-kind regulated Bitcoin futures index to debut on the Matba Rofex exchange in May. The contract will be based on the price of BTC provided by various entities offering BTC/ARS trading pairs, with all trades being settled in Argentine pesos.
Strategic Innovation Agenda
The approval is part of CNV’s strategic innovation agenda that seeks to create a space for public-private collaboration to develop new products in the capital market. To ensure compliance with payment services regulations, an exchange providing these contracts must have a valid contract with a payment services provider registered with the Central Bank of Argentina.
Mitigating Effects Of High Inflation
Argentina is struggling with high inflation, and many citizens have turned to Bitcoin as an alternative form of currency to mitigate its effects. This is evident by the recent surge in peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading volume within the nation. Moreover, a bill proposed by Argentina’s Ministry of Economy has encouraged citizens to declare their crypto holdings and incentivized them with tax benefits.
Risk Warnings For Investors
The CNV has asked Matba Rofex exchange to incorporate alerts that warn investors about risks associated with such financial instruments so as to provide qualified investors access to gain BTC exposure safely within a transparent and regulated environment.
Coinbase CEO Urges Legal Tender For Brazil & Argentina
The launch also follows Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong urging Brazil & Argentina last weekto adopt Bitcoin as legal tender due its potential use cases such as store value, digital gold or digital dollar use cases for countries facing hyperinflation crises or devaluation problems like Venezuela, Nicaragua or Zimbabwe – which he said would “drastically improve people’s lives”.