Argentine customs has confiscated 2,233 Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining rigs that it claims were billed nearly $5 million more than their actual value, Ambito Financiero reported.Allegedly Inflated Value of Imported Bitcoin Mining Devices
The machines were each valued at $10,000 for import purposes, but were actually only worth $6,316-7,700 each, according to a filing by the country’s customs office on Thursday.
The case is currently being investigated by Judge Pablo Yadarola, who ordered an examination of the seized property on Monday. “We should use the dollars for production and job creation, not for financial speculation,” said Guillermo Michel, director general of customs office.
The seizure came at a time when foreign exchange reserves on Argentina’s Central Bank’s balance sheet were dwindling, prompting the government to tighten import controls this week.
Many Argentine citizens who want to earn US dollars and benefit from the state-sponsored electricity tariff in the country are mining Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies at home.
As it is known, the Latin American country has been struggling with high inflation recently. That’s why Argentine people are turning to cryptocurrencies that are less depreciated than their own currency, or directly to stablecoins whose value is stable in the US dollar.
A similar situation is taking place in Lebanon, a Middle Eastern country that has had financial difficulties recently. According to research, many university students in Lebanon buy cryptocurrencies to protect the value of their money.