Preserving Blockchain and Decentralization in Argentina Through Web 3.0

Regulating the Cryptocurrency Market

Non-government organization Bitcoin Argentina has presented a draft bill which seeks to regulate the cryptocurrency market in a way that preserves decentralization and public trust.

Ricardo Mihura, the president of Bitcoin Argentina, presented the proposed legal framework at LABITCONF 2023 in Buenos Aires on Nov. 10. The organization has previously been against the idea of regulating the industry, but now they argue that it is necessary to ensure blockchain is preserved, and that bad actors are held accountable.

The first article of the legal framework looks to differentiate between cryptocurrency platforms and service providers into three categories, based on property rights: decentralized, local centralized or willing to dialogue with authorities, and global centralized.

Decentralization in Web 3.0

Platforms that fall under one of the two centralized categories would be allowed to operate freely, but its customers would be granted “the broadest possible judicial protection,” guaranteeing the right to claim damages in the event of a company downfall.

It is understood that Argentina’s judiciary will not intervene on failures from decentralized platforms.

Courts will decide whether or not a cryptocurrency platform is sufficiently decentralized when resolving claims put forward by allegedly injured customers.

Mihura stressed that imposing an outright ban on cryptocurrencies — which some governments have tried to do — simply wouldn’t work given the global nature of blockchain and the difference between web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0:

Differences Between Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0

Blockchain Argentina recently proposed a bill that seeks to hold accountable all those who profit from fraud in the marketing chain, up until the final victim. This comes one week ahead of the presidential run-off election between the country’s economy minister Sergio Massa and economist Javier Milei, who has proposed abolishing the central bank and adopting the US dollar.

Argentina is facing a severe inflation crisis, with the fourth largest annual inflation rate in the world at 121.7%. Decentralization is one of the key features of Web 3.0, and it could help the country to more effectively combat inflation.

To understand how Web 3.0 could help, it is important to look at the differences between Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0. Web 1.0, also known as the static web, was characterized by static webpages with no interactivity. Web 2.0, also known as the dynamic web, was characterized by increased interactivity and user-generated content. Web 3.0, also known as the semantic web, is characterized by decentralization, machine-readable data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things.