Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of the most relevant crypto and economic news from Latin America over the past week. In this week’s edition, the IMF reveals the fine print of its credit facility deal with El Salvador, Ricardo Salinas is 70% invested in bitcoin, and the Libra probe advances in Argentina.
Latam Insights: El Salvador's IMF Deal Detailed, Mexican Billionaire Goes Hard on Bitcoin
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Bukele’s IMF Deal Controversy: Fine Print on Bitcoin Raises Questions
Controversy has arisen over the implications of El Salvador’s $1.4 billion credit facility deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), following the disclosure of fine print outlining the nation’s responsibilities for mitigating bitcoin-related risks to its economy.
The “Request for Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility” report, released on March 3, presents a letter of intent detailing the extent of this compromise.
Signed by Central Bank President Douglas Pablo Rodríguez Fuentes and Finance Minister Jerson Rogelio Posada Molina, the letter specifies that, in addition to winding down Chivo Wallet, the Bukele administration will neither accumulate more bitcoin nor issue or guarantee any type of bitcoin-indexed or denominated debt or tokenized instruments, at least at the public sector level.
Mexican Billionaire Ricardo Salinas Says Bitcoin Now Makes up 70% of His Personal Portfolio
Mexico’s third richest man, Ricardo Salinas, chairman and CEO of corporate conglomerate Grupo Salinas, told Bloomberg in an interview published Tuesday, that 70% of his personal portfolio has bitcoin exposure.
The 69-year-old billionaire who commands a net worth of roughly $4.6 billion according to Forbes, made his fortune by expanding his family’s furniture business into consumer finance and eventually other areas such as telecommunications and network television.
In November 2020, Salinas tweeted that he had 10% of his liquid portfolio in bitcoin, and now, almost five years later, he says that allocation has jumped to 70%.
Argentine Prosecutor Orders Mass Freezing of Cryptocurrency in Libra Case
The investigation of Libra, the meme coin that was shared by President Javier Milei hours before its debacle, is advancing in Argentina. Eduardo Taiano, the prosecutor in charge of the case, is currently working to secure evidence that might link the group involved in the launch of the currency with Milei.
Taiano has requested a detailed report of all the movements involving Libra tokens, to ascertain the addresses most benefitted, and try to cross-reference it with the holders of these addresses. However, the pseudonymous nature of the accounts has made this task difficult.
In the same way, Taiano has ordered a complete freeze of the assets involved in the investigation, to avoid possible obfuscation and determine if there has been money or asset laundering involving Libra movements to other platforms. To this end, the prosecutor has sent messages to international exchanges to surrender the data of Libra’s token movements.
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