Josefina Canale, Argentina's lawmaker, has declared through her personal Twitter account that she is in favor of creating an exclusive cryptocurrency for the city of Mendoza, which would be backed and monitored by the local government.
The lawmaker adds that she has been studying the subject to propose it in legislative discussions, also suggesting that a digital token could be useful for paying taxes.
One of the motivations is that this currency could help insulate Mendoza from the current national macroeconomic situation — Argentina’s peso is in dire straits.
Mixed reactions to the proposal
The announcement received a mixed reception from citizens through social networks. The voices against the proposal criticize the fact that this as-yet-hypothetical cryptocurrency would be issued and controlled by the government and thus be heavily centralized.
They also urged the lawmaker to study the concept of the Petro in order not to make the same mistakes that Venezuela did.
Besides, citizens who are in favor of the concept of a digital currency in Mendoza, urge Canale to adopt an existing one during the elaboration of her proposal.
Judging based on responses the lawmaker's tweet, those in favor say that this would help modernize the provincial government, and that it would be a good starting point for solutions to the country's economic and tax situation.
Canale clarified that it is not yet a specific bill since it is still an idea that needs further in-depth study.
A cryptopeso for Argentina?
Canale's proposal is not new. Weeks ago, the former president of the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA), Martin Redrado, had also put on the table the idea of creating a “national cryptopeso,” claiming to follow the model of China.
However, he also received criticism because the economist is advocating centralization of the aforementioned cryptocurrency and monitoring by the national central bank.