Guido Cannetti, an Argentinian Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter, amid rising inflation and the declining economy of Argentina, is the first martial arts athlete in the country to receive 100% of the stable coin, crypto salary company Bitwage announced on Monday.
Dubbed El Ninja, he will return to the Octagon on October 1 to face local fighter Randy Costa in the United States. According to BitWage, Guido receives payments in USDC stablecoin through the Stellar Network on Vibrant, a wallet app developed by the Stellar team specifically for Argentines who have experienced inflation.
According to official government data, inflation in the country in the 12 months to August was 78.5 percent, while inflation rose to 56.4 percent in the first eight months of the year. Argentina’s central bank predicts 95% inflation, while some private analysts predict 100% inflation by 2022.
“I’m getting paid in USDC because it’s more secure for my future,” Cannetti said in a Bitwage statement, adding that the stablecoin protects him from local currency volatility and volatility.
Among Argentinian consumers surveyed by Americas Market Intelligence in April, 51% bought crypto and 27% bought cryptocurrencies regularly, compared to 12% adoption by the end of 2021.
The US dollar-pegged stablecoin rallied in July following the sudden resignation of Martin Guzmán as economy minister. His fiscal policies aimed at reducing budget deficits and tightening monetary policy have divided opinion within the Argentine government. The country’s black market currency was 287 pesos to the dollar at press time, according to the website Dollarhoy.