Lemon, Argentina’s biggest crypto exchange, launched the first Visa card backed by Bitcoin in Argentina, offering users Argentine Peso funding without forcing them liquidate their BTC.
According to La Nación, a leading Argentine daily newspaper, customers must lock up 0.01 Bitcoin (BTCThe BTC is held in an unmoved guarantee, rather than sold or converted into fiat.
Lemon is planning to extend the product, so users can gradually adjust credit and collateral limits and pay dollar-denominated transactions directly in dollar pegged currency. stablecoins USDC is a type of currency (USDCYou can also use Tether (USDT).
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Launching the new currency speaks of Argentines longstanding mistrust in banks. This distrust is rooted in multiple devaluations as well as other factors. “corralito” deposit freeze In December 2001, the peso account was devalued and many families were forced to store their wealth in dollars instead of in pesos.
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A Reuters reportArgentines are estimated to have $271 billion of undeclared dollars in cash. This is based on official data that was used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program. “in mattresses and overseas bank accounts,” Far outside of the formal financial systems.
Even after the death of President Javier Milei, this stash still exists “Fiscal Innocence” The tax amnesty program is being pushed to the near future 300,000 savers Declare the amount of money in excess of $20 billion
By letting users post Bitcoin as collateral Lemon’s local credit line is a way to convert favored assets into daily spending power without forcing the savers of BTC to withdraw their hard currency or BTC.
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As crypto rails are becoming more widely accepted in Latin American financial institutions, the card is also available. Dune, among other platforms for analytics, shows that the flow of crypto in Latin America was dominated by centralized exchanges. grow roughly ninefold over the past three years.
The exchange flows in 2024 reached $27 billion, while the cumulative crypto activity between 2022-2025 was $1.5 trillion. Bitso, Mercado Bitcoin and Lemon are handling a larger share of remittances and payments, as well as hedging.
Lemon has a user base that is already familiarized with digital assets, both for savings and transactions.
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Crypto-collateralized credit goes mainstream
Globally, crypto collateralized credit It is not a new concept. In the United States and Europe, users can borrow from Bitcoin and stablecoins. Some fintechs also offer credit cards that are backed by crypto assets.
Lemon offers an alternative to the traditional banking model. It is a peso denominated, Bitcoin-guaranteed revolving loan product.
Despite recent declines in inflation, the rate of global inflation remains high. low-30% Argentine saving behaviors are still influenced today by past crises, as well as the range of savings available.
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Source: cointelegraph.com
