An official told Reuters on Wednesday, without giving specific figures, that Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, is experiencing an increase in customers as a result of rising inflation and a historically high dollar that has hurt emerging market currencies.
“Now that we are seeing inflation ramping up worldwide, we are seeing that more and more people are seeking cryptocurrency, like bitcoin, as a way to protect themselves from inflation,” said Maximiliano Hinz, who heads Binance in Latin America, during an interview in Lima.
Hinz used Argentina as an example, where yearly inflation reaches 90%. Along with Brazil and Mexico, the nation has developed into one of the company’s top markets, he claimed.
Despite a decline in cryptocurrency prices, Argentina’s citizens continued to invest their savings in bitcoin this year.
Although Hinz noted other Latin American countries have yet to implement significant cryptocurrency laws, he does not necessarily think that is a bad thing for the company. El Salvador recently made news for making bitcoin legal tender.
“Regulation is a framework, but it’s not always negative that something isn’t regulated,” he said. “If something isn’t banned, then it’s legal.”
El Salvador has made a significant investment in bitcoin under President Nayib Bukele, legalising it as money and purchasing more than $100 million worth of the digital currency, which has lost roughly 50% of its value this year amid a larger cryptocurrency selloff.
