Argentina's War Against Uber Works to Bitcoin's Advantage

In many countries people resisted Uber when it started—especially those whose livelihood is being threatened by the service.

In Argentina specifically, taxi unions in Buenos Aires sued not only Uber but the city as well, ending up in a legal order to ban ride-sharing services in the city. Apart from this, the government ordered both the national communications agency Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones (ENACOM) and credit card companies from transacting with Uber.

 

In retaliation, Uber partnered up with Swiss Bitcoin company Xapo, prompting their passengers to pay in Bitcoins through their debit cards. Uber gave passengers a $30 discount, and people seem to have chosen to embrace and understand Bitcoins rather than ditch Uber. 

“In general Uber users are highly knowledgeable about technology and more prone to Bitcoin understanding and usage, fears about Bitcoin usually come from more illiterate users," says co-organizer of the Latin American Bitcoin Conference,

In addition, the whole ruckus between Uber and the government gave Uber an upsurge in publicity. The Buenos Aires transportation agency announced that they will be developing an app to compete with Uber, called BA Taxi.

We'll just have to wait and see where this feud goes.