Bitcoin-friendly Javier Milei Wins Argentina Presidential Election
Argentina's Bitcoin (BTC)-friendly Javier Milei won the countryâs presidential run-off election on Nov. 19, beating out his opponent Sergio Massa.
With almost 99% of the vote counted, Milei won over 55% of the votes with a nearly 3 million vote lead according to Bloomberg data.
Massa, the countryâs minister of economy, called Milei to congratulate him on the victory after more than 90% of the votes were counted â before the announcement of the first official results. Milei will take office on December 10.
With nearly 100% of the vote counted, Milei had an over 10 percentage point lead on Massa. Source: Bloomberg
Argentina's long-lasting inflation crisis has been a heated topic in the South American country, with the Argentine peso recording over a 140% increase in annual inflation in the last 12 months.
Milei has been vocal about his criticisms toward the countryâs central bank, referring to it as a scam and a âmechanism by which politicians cheat the good people with inflationary tax.â
Heâs referred to Bitcoin as a movement toward âthe return of money to its original creator, the private sector.â
However, he has not signaled any intention to make Bitcoin legal tender in the country.
VIVA LA LIBERTAD CARAJO pic.twitter.com/WzzzZaTcsz
â Javier Milei (@JMilei) November 19, 2023
Massaâs views on the money, banking and cryptocurrency industry appear to be polar opposite to Milei.
In October, he pledged to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) if elected to âsolveâ Argentinaâs long-lasting inflation crisis.
Massa won the first round of Argentinaâs presidential election in October. However, it wasnât enough to win the presidency outright, triggering the final run-off vote.
Prior to that, Milei won Argentinaâs primary election against Messi and other candidates in August.
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