Employee Salaries in Argentina Could Soon Be Paid in Cryptocurrencies

Argentinian congressman José Luis Ramón has proposed a law that would allow companies to pay employees in cryptocurrencies. 

– Argentinians can strengthen their autonomy and preserve the purchasing power of their salaries – said Ramón, adding that the initiative will promote better management of employee salaries.

Ramón’s proposal contains several key details. Firstly, employees would have complete authority over whether to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment. The employer would also have to bear the costs of transferring cryptocurrencies to the employee.

Payment can be made in two ways, either by paying in pesos (the Argentine currency) equivalent to the cryptocurrency payment or simply by direct payment in cryptocurrency. Ramón utilized a common argument of cryptocurrency advocates, stating that payment in cryptocurrency represents protection against inflation.

In Argentina, the inflation rate in May was 3.3 percent, but as high as 21.5 percent on an annual basis. Such figures suggest, according to Ramón, that employees would be better off being paid in cryptocurrencies. The congressman singled out self-employed workers as special beneficiaries of such a law.

– This project allows self-employed workers who export services abroad to preserve the purchasing power of their salaries during the process of their entry into the country – he stated.

Argentina is not the only Latin American country dealing with cryptocurrencies. El Salvador has gone a step further, having already signed a law recognizing bitcoin as legal tender.

However, the move by Salvadoran President Bukele is not without critics. The opposition party in El Salvador, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, has already filed a lawsuit against the bitcoin law, calling it unconstitutional. It is also unclear how El Salvador’s partnership with the payment platform Zap Solutions functions, with no evidence that the company is adequately licensed throughout the U.S.

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