The use of Argentine stablecoins increased in the run-up to President Milei’s election victory

The party of Argentine President Javier Milei secured one surprise, but decisive victory in Sunday’s parliamentary by-elections. And citizens concerned about the possible election results bought large numbers of stablecoins in US dollars this weekend, with experts noting a significant increase in the use of “crypto dollars.”

Facundo Werning, LATAM head of stablecoin publisher Agora and former Tether expansion manager for Argentina, said Declutter that he saw a “notable increase in volume on the USD stablecoin [Argentine peso] trading pair,” with a conservative estimate of $13.4 million in trading volume on Sunday.

This also applies to the South American crypto app Lemon drew the third highest single day volume of all time and the highest hourly volume ever at 9pm local time on Sunday – when the results were announced.

The Argentine peso is a notoriously unstable currency. A low of 1,491.50 pesos per U.S. dollar was reached on Friday Reutersdespite a A $40 billion rescue package from President Trump. However, it appears that some citizens thought the peso would have fallen even more if Milei’s right-wing party La Libertad Avanza (LLA) had not won the most seats.

Milei is a divisive figure in Argentina because of his radical economic plans and his ties to Argentina corruption scandals– including the infamous one LIBRA meme coin. As such, his approval rating has waned in recent months, turning the midterm elections into a make-or-break election in the eyes of many.

Santiago Vivanco, an Argentinian who works in finance, told us Declutter that he does not know anyone who went to the elections with large sums of money in the Argentine peso.

Over the weekend, the odds that the left-wing Unión por la Patria party would win the most seats peaked at 55%. Polymarkt. Vivanco said he expected the peso to crash if Unión por la Patria won, claiming left-wing economic policies would be bad for the peso.

Likewise, Trump said the US would not do that.wasting our time“Help Argentina if Milei had lost. As such, citizens bought stable coins in USD to avoid a possible crash.

It is important to note that exchange rates in Argentina are not simple. There are multiple rates, including the ‘official rate’ available from banks, but citizens can only withdraw $200 per month; the unofficial “blue dollar,” the enhanced exchange rate offered at street fairs; and the “crypto dollar,” which is determined by supply and demand via stablecoins.

A major difference between these three rates is that the crypto dollar never stops working, while the official banks and unofficial street exchanges close their doors outside office hours. Therefore, the crypto dollar becomes the best way to track the price of the peso, especially during weekend elections.

“This behavior turned the crypto dollar into something more than just a savings instrument,” a Lemon spokesperson said Declutter. “It became a real-time thermometer of Argentina’s economic and political pulse when the traditional market is offline.”

As expectations changed, votes were counted and results were announced, the crypto dollar fluctuated in valuation. Argentine citizens traded pesos for stablecoins and stablecoins for pesos, in an effort to get the most out of their volatile local currency.

A Lemon dashboard Election tracking showed that the local currency hit a low exchange rate of ARS 1,572.50 per crypto dollar around 2:00 PM local time on Sunday. This changed quickly as the results became clearer, reaching a high of ARS 1,350 per dollar at 10am on Monday.

“Over the weekend we initially saw the crypto dollar rise dramatically, and then as the results came in on Sunday we saw it plummet against the peso,” Werning said. Declutter.

“This indicates optimistic market sentiment,” Lemon’s spokesperson added.

Markets appear to have reacted favorably to Milei’s victory, with the peso looking stronger on Monday than at Friday’s close.