BCR Podcast #32: Hashdex's João Marco Braga da Cunha on Why a Shared Brazil-Argentina Currency is NGMI

E aí pessoal?I’m excited to share the latest BCR podcast recording with João Marco Braga da Cunha , who is a Brazilian economist and portfolio manager with Hashdex, Brazil's largest crypto asset manager. In this episode, we discuss a proposal that was shared recently by Brazilian and Argentine leaders about creating a shared currency between the two countries. The idea is that this could further regional integration, stimulate trade and reduce dependence on the US dollar. The idea generated a lot of coverage mainstream financial media circles and the crypto community. Even Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong weighed in on Twitter suggesting that the countries should simply adopt bitcoin.Would this shared currency proposition achieve any of its intended goals? Probably not, but the fact that we have the presidents and finance ministers of these countries discussing it publicly (as opposed to random technocrats) means it’s something we need to take a look at. João explains the origin of this shared currency idea, why it might have actually worked in the 1990s when both countries had similar monetary policies, the likely political motivations behind the proposal and what role crypto or digital currency could play here. While he’s bearish on the idea itself, he points out that it’s actually predicated on values that are congruent with those of the crypto ecosystem - namely, reduced independence on the US dollar, resilience against potential sanctions, etc.If you want to learn more you can take a look at this op-ed João wrote for CoinTelegraph. I really enjoyed this conversation with João and I hope you do as well. 🚨You can also listen to this episode on SpotifyIf you missed my inaugural YouTube episode about Brazil’s new crypto law with Karen Duque of Bitso Brasil and Julien Dutra of Mercado Bitcoin be sure to check that out below!Have a great day everyone!-AWSThanks for reading Brazil Crypto Report! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe