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Cryptocurrency adoption in Argentina has set records as the local inflation rate skyrockets.

Argentina has been leading the Western hemisphere in cryptocurrency adoption with a 276% annual inflation rate, according to analysts from the American business magazine Forbes.

Crypto adoption in Argentina is higher as a share of its global population than any other country in the Western hemisphere, Forbes analysts reported in an article on July 8. Out of 130 million visitors to 55 of the largest exchanges worldwide, 2.5 million came from Argentina, the report noted, citing website data from Similarweb.

Argentina is also the top market on Binance one of the worlds largest crypto exchanges in terms of visitors. According to SimilarWeb, website traffic from Argentina accounts for 6.9% of Binances total visits.

In contrast to the surging memecoin trend in the crypto industry, the crypto adoption in Argentina has not been driven by memecoins. The locals instead prefer holding stablecoins like Tether (USDT), the analysts claimed, citing remarks by Maximiliano Hin, Bitgets head of Latin America.

Argentina is an anomalous market where many people buy USDT and dont leave room for much else, Hinz said, adding:

Stablecoins like USDT are a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value by pegging to a reserve of US dollars at a 1:1 ratio. With massive local inflation rates, holding money in USDT makes sense for people in Argentina despite the countrys lack of significant measures to protect stablecoin investors.

Despite Argentinas friendly stance on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), the country has apparently struggled to create a framework to regulate the industry.

In late 2023, after President Javier Milei took office, Argentina officially endorsed using Bitcoin in legally binding contracts.

Related: Canadian crypto adoption struggles as cash remains king

Since then, Argentina has been trying to regulate the local cryptocurrency market, passing registration requirements for crypto firms in April 2024.

Despite the governments crypto regulation efforts, Argentina still struggles to provide regulated cryptocurrency services to its population, according toForbes.

The report claimed that none of Argentinas top crypto exchanges, including Binance, have registered with the national securities regulator, Comisin Nacional de Valores (CNV).

To the best of my knowledge, there is no licensing requirement in the Latin American countries where Bitget operates, Bitgets Hin stated.

Cointelegraph approached CNV for a comment regarding local crypto regulations but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

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Crypto adoption in Argentina soars amid 276% inflation spike - Cointelegraph