–In the U.S., bitcoin payment processors generally find merchants want them to immediately convert their bitcoins into dollars.

In Argentina, the exact opposite occurs. Firms such as San Francisco-based BitPagos will take the dollars received by tourism industry clients in Buenos Aires and deliver them bitcoins in return.

That their clients are opting for this says much about Argentina’s dysfunctional financial system and the promise that bitcoiners see the digital currency providing for citizens of countries with strict currency controls.