Buenos Aires to deploy Ethereum validation nodes in 2023

Ethereum at the heart of innovation in Argentina

More and more cities are including cryptocurrency and blockchain projects in their development and growth plans. Buenos Aires would deploy validation nodes for the Ethereum chain in 2023. Diego Fernandez, the city’s secretary of innovation and digital transformation, announced this at ETH Latam, a convention focused on Ethereum taking place in the city.

Fernandez clarified that the city’s interest in mining these nodes was for exploratory purposes, and that they hoped that mining these nodes would allow them to have a deeper understanding of the Ethereum chain in order to better regulate crypto-assets .

The nodes will be deployed in partnership with private companies, who will deploy the hardware to set up those nodes. Although he did not specify how many nodes will be installed, he said that the deployment of Ethereum validation nodes will be executed “as part of a regulatory sandbox approved by the Buenos Aires legislature in 2021.”

With this initiative, Buenos Aires would be one of the first cities in Latin America to host its own cryptocurrency nodes.

A measure that leads to the adoption of Web3 and in early May, Argentina’s central bank intervened to block new cryptocurrency offerings from banks.

Buenos Aires strengthens its Web3 side

This is not Buenos Aires’ first trip to crypto. In March, Fernández announced that the city had begun work on a blockchain-based digital identity platform, TangoID, with the goal of giving city residents control over their personal data. The platform will be operational in January 2023, he said.

During his presentation on Thursday, Fernández clarified that TangoID would initially be anchored on Starknet. Regarding this development and its objectives, Mr. Fernandez said:

“The purpose of the project is to build a system of digital interactions, in the common consent of the community, that starts with the exchange of documents and personal identification information. »

In April, the Mayor of Buenos Aires Horacio Rodríguez Larreta announced that the city would allow the payment of taxes in cryptocurrencies. At the time, Mr. Larreta clarified that the government would not receive residents’ cryptocurrencies directly, but Argentine pesos, through conversions made by cryptocurrency companies.

It is worth remembering that Latin Americans are still the most optimistic in terms of cryptocurrency, which partly explains this governmental and regional desire to improve web3 services in these countries.

Buenos Aires is therefore greatly enhancing its web3 offering, using various aspects of the blockchain to facilitate payment methods, digital identification and even the Ethereum network.