Rodrigo Coelho, Chief Executive Officer at Edge & Node, said that in the past, Argentinians had turned to stablecoins and crypto-based tools to survive hyperinflation and protect their earnings. This statement was made during a podcast recording on March 25.
“They would get paid in stablecoins because their local currency was just inflating an insane amount,” said Coelho. “One month to the next, the price of a bottle of water would be way higher. People would literally pay for things with bags of money cashed out from crypto. They couldn’t hold the Argentine peso—they kept their funds in USDC or used crypto Visa cards.”
Argentina has been grappling with severe inflationary pressures for decades, leading to a series of economic crises. According to Reuters, the country’s annual inflation rate ended 2023 at 211.4%, the highest since the early 1990s. This hyperinflation has eroded the purchasing power of the Argentine peso, prompting citizens to seek alternative means to preserve their wealth.
The widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies in Argentina is further evidenced by the significant number of users engaging with these digital assets. According to a report by Chainalysis, approximately 5 million Argentinians, out of a total population of 45.8 million, use cryptocurrencies for various financial activities. This represents a substantial portion of the population integrating digital currencies into their daily economic practices.
Coelho is a Brazilian technology leader and CEO of Edge & Node. He has held multiple roles in the blockchain and financial technology sectors and is known for advocating decentralized solutions to systemic economic challenges in Latin America.
Edge & Node is one of the core developers of The Graph, a decentralized protocol for indexing blockchain data. The company supports decentralized applications by enabling efficient, permissionless access to blockchain information, powering critical infrastructure in the web3 ecosystem.
