Argentina’s Largest Futures Trading Market May Add Crypto to its Roster

Cryptocurrency, and Bitcoin in particular, has something special to offer small nations. It is no coincidence that Estonia floated the idea of a national cryptocurrency several months ago, a concept that was later adopted by several larger nations. Cryptocurrency ICOs have paved the way for investors to quickly put large amounts of money into companies that they believe will bring them the meteoric returns that have put cryptocurrency on the map; their potential for bringing funds into economically limited countries is as-yet untapped.

The nation of Argentina, which has a population of nearly 44 million people (roughly 8.5 times the size of New York City), is one of the countries that has been early to embrace cryptocurrency. While there are no plans to develop a national cryptocurrency (yet), the country “wants to stay at the forefront of the cryptocurrency market”, according to a Bloomberg report.

Rofex Paves the Way Forward in Argentina

Rofex (Mercado de Termino de Rosario), the largest futures trading market in Argentina, is considering offering digital currency-related services to its investors. More specifically, the company is interested in possibly offering custody services for Bitcoin, and the option to use Bitcoin as collateral in futures trading. While Rofex’s ideas are still very much in the incubation phase, the company hopes to “make an announcement before the end of the year”, according to Diego Fernandez, General Manager of Rofex.

Despite Argentina’s crypto-friendly stance, there would still be some legal hoops to jump through in order to get a legitimate crypto futures Trading Platform up-and-running. Fernandez noted that the concept would need to be approved by the Argentinian National Securities Commission (CNV), which would “involve a longer process and the need to build an index or reference value”.

Critical Moment for Embracing Crypto in the Long Term

This development comes at an important time in the life of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is soaring to record highs, surpassing $7000 last week; some analysts believe that a single BTC token will be worth roughly $10,000 by the end of the year.

As such, the crypto industry is just beginning to gain footholds in the mainstream world of finance. In addition to Rofex, there are several other exchanges that have taken cryptocurrency into consideration, including the Chicago Board Options Exchange, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which registered the LedgerX crypto trading platform in July.

If Argentina can manage to stay close to the helm of this trend, the country may have much to gain.