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- A landlord and tenant in Argentina signed the country's first-ever bitcoin-based rental contract.
- It may be the first contract of its kind in the world.
- New regulation in Argentina allows bitcoin to be used as a valid currency in contracts.
Argentina's and possibly the world's first-ever bitcoin-based rental contract has been signed, according to a report, marking a major milestone for crypto adoption.
According to the local media outlet Paginal12, last week the owner and tenant of an apartment in Rosario, Argentina's third-largest city, signed a rental agreement stipulating that rent should be paid monthly in bitcoin, the most widely used cryptocurrency in the world.
According to Paginal12, the agreed-upon monthly rent corresponded to 100 Tether (USDT), a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar.
The rent will therefore equate to $100 in American currency.
The payments will be made via the Fiwind platform, which both parties are active members of, the company told Paginal12.
A company spokesperson told Paginal12 that it is the first agreement of its kind, "at least in Argentina."
Florencia Feldman, Fiwind's marketing lead, told BI that some people have asked why an individual would prefer to have bitcoins instead of tether.
"The truth is, it's a personal decision," she said. "We assume that it may be related to the expectation that, in 2024, the price of bitcoin is anticipated to rise due to the halving and other factors, such as the approval of SEC on bitcoin ETFs."
This latest move follows the approval of a law last month by the government of Argentina's new, pro-bitcoin president, Javier Milei. The law allows bitcoin to be used as a valid currency in official contracts.
In recent years, Argentinians have increasingly embraced cryptocurrencies as the local currency, the peso, has eroded in value amid soaring inflation.
Cryptocurrency experts believe that the use of bitcoin in contracts could signal a major step toward crypto being used more widely in the country, according to the financial news outlet FX Empire.