Bitcoin-friendly Javier Milei wins Argentina presidential election

Argentina’s Bitcoin (BTC)-friendly Javier Milei won the country’s presidential run-off election on Nov. 19, beating out his opponent Sergio Massa.

With almost 99% of the votes counted, Milei won over 55% of the votes, giving him a nearly 3-million-vote lead, according to Bloomberg data.

Massa, the country’s minister of economy, called Milei to congratulate him on the victory after more than 90% of the votes were counted — before the announcement of the first official results. Milei will take office on Dec. 10.

Argentina’s long-lasting inflation crisis has been a heated topic in the South American country, with the Argentine peso recording a 140% increase in annual inflation in the last 12 months.

Milei has been vocal about his criticisms toward the country’s central bank, referring to it as a scam and a “mechanism by which politicians cheat the good people with inflationary tax.”

He’s referred to Bitcoin as a movement toward “the return of money to its original creator, the private sector.”

Related: Bitcoin price hits all-time highs across Argentina, Nigeria and Turkey

However, he has not signaled any intention to make Bitcoin legal tender in the country.

VIVA LA LIBERTAD CARAJO pic.twitter.com/WzzzZaTcsz

— Javier Milei (@JMilei) November 19, 2023

Massa’s views on the money, banking and cryptocurrency industries appear to be polar opposite to Milei’s.

In October, he pledged to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) if elected to “solve” Argentina’s long-lasting inflation crisis.

Massa won the first round of Argentina’s presidential election in October. However, it wasn’t enough to win the presidency outright, triggering the final run-off vote.

Prior to that, Milei won Argentina’s primary election against Massa and other candidates in August.

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