You can now pay your contracts in Bitcoin in Argentina, says minister of foreign affairs

Argentina just took a step towards crypto adoption.

“We ratify and confirm that in Argentina contracts can be agreed in Bitcoin,” Diana Mondino, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, posted today on X.

Mondino said that other cryptocurrencies — or any in-kind methods of payment, such as litres of milk — were included in the ratification.

“The debtor must deliver the corresponding amount of the designated currency, whether the currency is legal tender in the Republic or not,” she added, citing “Article 766″ without specifying from which legal document she was referring.

The ratification is likely part of new President Javier Milei’s “chainsaw” plan to combat the country’s crushing 160% inflation rate. Milei announced on Wednesday sweeping reforms to Argentina’s economy.

The package contains over 300 measures targeting different sectors, including real estate, winemaking, and mining. It also sets up national companies YPF and Aerolíneas Argentinas for privatisation.

Mondino is emerging as one of the most vocal pro-crypto members of Milei’s cabinet. She stated in August that “Argentina can become a Bitcoin haven.”

“The proposal has always been and will be freedom of currencies. Whoever wants to make a contract in Bitcoin, let them do it,” she said at a Bitcoin conference last month.

While Milei has called Bitcoin a “natural reaction against the central bank scammers,” he hasn’t set out specific plans to regulate or adopt it across Argentina.

However, cryptocurrencies may play a part in Milei’s scheme to dollarise the economy.

What Milei means by dollarisation is a “currency competition,” Mariano Di Pietrantonio, Num Finance co-founder and former MakerDAO head of strategy, recently told DL News.

“You will be able to use whatever currency the seller and the purchaser agree on,” Di Pietrantonio said. “Argentinians have a lot of dollars, so it is understandable that they will choose [it].”

Tom Carreras is DL News’ correspondent in Latin America. Got a tip about Argentina and crypto? Reach out at tcarreras@dlnews.com