Author: a16z crypto
Compiled by Deep潮 TechFlow
DeepOcean Insight: Argentina is one of the world’s top markets for cryptocurrency adoption, but what truly deserves attention goes beyond the inflation-hedging narrative. Even after the crisis eased, stablecoin usage did not decline—it became entrenched as a habitual practice. This case is an essential example for understanding the stickiness of stablecoins in emerging markets, the trend toward dollarization, and the future direction of payment ecosystems.
Where in the world are people using cryptocurrency, and how are they using it? Let’s start with Argentina, where one in five people uses cryptocurrency—the highest rate in Latin America.
All of this happened quickly. In 2024, the top 15 cryptocurrency apps in Argentina saw their downloads nearly double, a 93% increase from the previous year.
Argentines’ preference for the U.S. dollar predates cryptocurrency. Between 2001 and 2002, the government froze bank deposits and, under Decree 214/2002, forcibly converted dollar-denominated deposits and loans into pesos. After the dollar peg was abandoned, the exchange rate plummeted from 1 peso to 1 dollar to nearly 4 pesos, causing the dollar value of the peso to evaporate by about three-quarters. This crisis deepened distrust in the peso and reinforced the habit of storing savings outside the banking system in physical dollars—such as hiding cash under mattresses or in safes.
After the government reimposed foreign exchange controls in 2019, stablecoins began gaining traction in Argentina. Within months, the government limited Argentinians’ official monthly currency purchase quota to $200, and additional eligibility rules barred many entirely. USD-pegged stablecoins became an alternative way to hold dollars outside the official market.
Recently, the share of stablecoins in contractor payments has been growing. In April 2024, year-over-year inflation reached 289%, and during the same period, the proportion of Argentine contractors paid in USDC also increased.
The above data comes from Deel, an a16z portfolio company that facilitates payroll processing in over 160 countries. Using this dataset, we can observe both the percentage of Argentine contractors paid monthly in USDC and the year-over-year inflation rate.
Since both metrics are normalized to January 2024, we are observing their relative changes from that point, not their absolute values. For a period, the two metrics appeared to move in sync. Later, as inflation slowed, stablecoin usage also appeared to decline. As of July 2026, both metrics remain at approximately one-fifth of their respective peaks.
In Argentina, buying cryptocurrency with pesos means buying dollars. Of all peso-cryptocurrency transactions, 94% flow into stablecoins—the highest proportion of stablecoins among all major currencies tracked by Artemis.
Interestingly, for several years, the price of crypto USD was significantly higher than the dollar obtained at the official exchange rate.
By 2023, the country’s capital controls prevented many Argentinians from purchasing official U.S. dollars, pushing the gap between the official and parallel market exchange rates to over 100%. Stablecoins emerged as an alternative, as they could be traded 24/7 and were unaffected by regulations. After Argentina lifted most restrictions on personal foreign currency purchases in April 2025, the two exchange rates converged significantly.
As of August 28, 2026, the price of a digital dollar is approximately 4% higher than the U.S. dollar purchased through official markets.
Argentina’s economic crisis now appears to be easing. Inflation is falling, purchasing dollars has been legalized, and the initial pressure driving many Argentinians toward stablecoins has lessened. You might assume usage would decline as a result. But that’s not the case.
The wage usage rate has not disappeared but has stabilized. Downloads of Lemon, one of Argentina’s largest crypto wallets, continue to rise each quarter, even as the monthly inflation rate has dropped from 25.5% to 2.1%.
For Argentinians, stablecoins may no longer just be a tool to hedge against inflation—they may be becoming a habit.