Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: President Bukele states El Salvador will not sell its bitcoin, Bitcoin ETFs land in Brazil and Peru, and Argentine President Javier Milei aims to criminalize central bank money issuance.
Latam Insights: El Salvador Won't Sell Its Bitcoin, Bitcoin Spot ETFs Land In Brazil and Peru
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El Salvador Won’t Sell Bitcoin
El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, took to social media platform X to talk about bitcoin and his country’s BTC holdings. El Salvador adopted bitcoin as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar in September 2021.
Noting that “When bitcoin’s market price was low,” there were “literally thousands of articles” about El Salvador’s “supposed losses” from its BTC investment, Bukele detailed: “Now that bitcoin’s market price is way up, if we were to sell, we would make a profit of over 40% (just from the market purchases), and our main source of BTC is now our citizenship program.”
The Salvadoran president continued:
We won’t sell, or course; at the end 1 BTC = 1 BTC (this was true when the market price was low and it’s true now).
Bitcoin Spot ETFs Launched in Peru and Brazil
New crypto investment options for traditional investors in Peru and Brazil landed in the form of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In Brazil, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT39) is now available to trade on B3, one of the largest stock exchanges. The instrument was launched by Blackrock using BDRs (Brazilian Depositary Receipts), which allow trading these securities in the country, being backed by ETF shares abroad.
Karina Saade, president of the manager in Brazil, recognized that the ETF was a “relevant asset class.” The BDR will be available for accredited investors first, and later to all investors.
In the same way, the Lima Stock Exchange (BVL), one of the largest Peruvian stock exchanges in the country, is giving entry to spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (EFT) on its platform. According to a press release issued by the exchange, Ishares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), Vaneck Bitcoin Trust (HODL), and Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin (BTCO) will be made available for Peruvian investors using BVL’s services.
Argentine President Javier Milei Seeks to Penalize Central Bank Money Issuance
Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, is making moves to stop the issuance of Argentine pesos to finance the state. According to local reports, Milei is preparing to send a bill to Congress that would penalize money issuance directly with jail time, preventing officials from the central bank from authorizing money printing operations.
The objective of this law would be to maintain the money supply constant while Milei’s administration cleans up the economic situation of the country.
In an interview with a local TV channel, Milei stated:
The project will define seigniorage as a criminal offense. If the central bank finances the treasury, either directly or indirectly, its president, the board of directors, the president of the nation, and the officials who vote for it would end up in jail.
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