On the first anniversary of Mile's appointment, he bid farewell to Argentina's rampant inflation. The encryption community is optimistic about future development.

Policy implementation exceeds expectations, Is Argentina bidding farewell to malignant inflation?

Since Javier Milei took office as the 59th President of Argentina on December 10, 2023, it has been a year. This libertarian economist, who used to be a goalkeeper, cloned his beloved dog’s genes, and called the central bank the ‘worst garbage on earth’, was originally seen as a ‘mouthful of campaign promises’ eccentric. Unexpectedly, a year later, Argentina’s long-term malignant inflation has significantly cooled down: the monthly inflation rate has dropped from 25.5% at the beginning of his term to 2.7%, the government has achieved a fiscal surplus for 9 consecutive months, and the Argentine peso exchange rate against the US dollar is no longer collapsing. Although GDP is expected to shrink by 4% in 2024, international institutions are optimistic that it will rebound by 6% in 2025. These achievements have greatly surprised the Argentine people, and some even lamented: ‘Finally, a politician who keeps their campaign promises.’

Image source: Getty Images Current President of Argentina, Javier Milei

However, the strong implementation of austerity and reform also comes at a cost. In the first half of 2024, the poverty rate in Argentina surged to 53%, far higher than the 42% before Milley took office. With a series of welfare cuts and government layoffs, some people have felt the impact firsthand. But in the eyes of Milley’s supporters, he had previously admitted that “Argentina needs to go through a few years of harsh transformation period,” and honestly facing the difficulty of reform has won even more respect.

Especially the crypto community in Argentina is still passionate about Millet; some people say, ‘If I could vote again, I would vote for him over and over again. He is doing exactly what I wanted when I chose him.’

The encryption community is full of praise, but is it not the ‘Bitcoin President’?

In the Argentine crypto industry, although Millet has no intention of copying the practice of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, crypto enthusiasts generally have a strong sense of identification with him. The founding idea of Bitcoin is to get rid of the control of central institutions, and Millet directly challenged during the election: ‘Close the central bank’ and even promote ‘dollarization’ to replace the peso. However, several observers emphasize that Millet’s attitude towards ‘currency competition’ tends to encourage the coexistence of foreign exchange and crypto, rather than directly turning Bitcoin into a legal currency like El Salvador.

What resonates with cryptocurrency enthusiasts in Argentina is actually Milei’s highly liberal economic philosophy. In the high inflation environment of Argentina, people have long sought refuge in the black market for US dollars, and even turned to stablecoins or other cryptocurrencies. Chainalysis’s report once ranked Argentina among the top 20 in global cryptocurrency adoption. Today, Milei’s efforts to reduce capital controls and eventually abolish the central bank highlight Argentina’s ‘monetary sovereignty’ and bring hope for reform to cryptocurrency businesses and users.

Source: Chainalysis. Argentina ranks among the top 20 countries in global cryptocurrency adoption.

Worries still exist, testing the road to re-election in the future

However, behind Milei’s impressive record, there are also signs of crisis: on one hand, the reduction of a large number of national welfare and personnel has triggered dissatisfaction and living difficulties among some social classes; on the other hand, his proposition of ‘dollarization’ has also been criticized by some cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Some believe that once the peso is replaced by the dollar, Argentina will be bound by US currency policy, bearing the risks of dollar inflation and fluctuations in US international policy.

More importantly, how far can Milei’s political landscape go? The Argentine midterm elections held in October 2025 will be a major test. Milei’s party, ‘La Libertad Avanza’ (Freedom Advances), currently holds 40 seats in the lower house of parliament out of 257, and 7 out of 72 seats in the upper house. Despite temporarily leading in the polls, it is still unknown whether the checks can continue to be cashed if the economic reform route encounters setbacks and social backlash intensifies.

As of now, Milley’s popularity is constantly rising both domestically and internationally; his meeting with US President-elect Trump and his interaction with Tesla CEO Musk have further enhanced his reputation. However, for Argentina, it remains to be seen whether it can successfully break free from the fate of years of high inflation and currency chaos. Local cryptocurrency practitioners still have high hopes for the reform achievements, believing that regardless of the government’s policy direction, the Argentine people’s mistrust of traditional finance is deeply rooted; cryptocurrencies still have great demand and vitality in this land.

Mirei’s first year in office may not be perfect, but at least the crypto community sees a glimmer of change in this ‘unusual president.’ Some supporters joked that if they could really break free from the long-standing weakness of the Argentine currency and the extremely low government credit, the combination of Mirei and the crypto world might create the most successful ‘RMB experiment’ in history.

‘Mile’s one-year anniversary, taking Argentina away from hyperinflation, the cryptocurrency community is optimistic about future development.’ This article was first published in ‘Crypto City’.