As so many online casinos attract players from around the world, so the number of currencies accepted continues to rise. Most of the big name gaming industry giants have offices and outposts based around the world. The only continent without a gaming industry is Antarctica (as far as I know) and this icy wilderness doesn’t have its own currency anyway.
And which nation is closest to the Antarctic? Argentina (ok, it’s a close run thing with Chile, but I’m giving it to the blue and white flag by a whisker). This Spanish speaking nation is home to many a software design office and is home to millions of enthusiastic gamers.
It should therefore come as no surprise that many casinos are delighted to accept the Argentinian peso as a currency of payment on their sites. This is not only because they want to encourage the South American domestic market, but also to enable Argentinians to continue to enjoy their favourite games wherever they happen to be across the globe.
The peso is a decimal currency, sub divided into 100 centavos. The currency signifier is the same as the conventional dollar sign ($). The currency itself dates from the early nineteenth Century. Its name is derived from Spanish. Argentina’s colonial heritage meant that its fledgling currency became known as the peso, after the name for the medieval Spanish silver “real” (meaning “royal” in English) coinage.
The history of the currency is marked by a consistent pattern of devaluations. Inflation has been a constant problem in the country, resulting in a sequence of currency adjustments to try to keep the spending value of the peso at practical levels. As a result, the peso has been revalued numerous times.
This has resulted in constant devaluations, even in the modern era. In the last fifty years or so, the value of the peso has been cut so many times that it has lost thirteen zeros – today, it is the equivalent of being worth just a ten trillionth of its 1970 value.
The process continues right up to the present day. In the last decade, the peso’s value has fallen against the US dollar by more than 80%: from around 3 pesos to the dollar in 2008 to closer to closer to 17 pesos to the dollar at the time of writing.
In practice, it may be more practical for Argentinian nationals to use more widely acceptable currencies such as the US dollar when abroad or when buying goods and services online. But then there are always those pesky currency conversion fees to consider. This means that online traders such as casinos who are prepared to accept the national currency will certainly have an advantage when it comes to encouraging the Argentinian diaspora to remain loyal to them.
So wherever you are across the world, from the polar bear inhabited Arctic tundra in the north to the penguin homelands of the Antarctic in the south, you should be able to find an online casino which is happy to accept your Argentinian pesos.