Milei’s Pro-Bitcoin Stance Falls Short
Argentina’s far-right and pro-Bitcoin (BTC) candidate, Javier Milei, has failed to clinch victory in the first round of voting, trailing his biggest rival, Economic Minister Sergio Massa. After counting 97% of the votes cast on Sunday, Massa emerged as the winner with 36.6% of the votes, while Milei trailed in second with 30% of the total 26.3 million votes.
Patricia Bullrich, a former security minister, came in third place in the first round with 23.8% of the votes. Many Milei supporters expected him to secure an outright victory, similar to Brazil’s Bolsonaro in 2018, due to his radical economic policies and views on inflation and the central bank’s fiscal policies.
Under Argentina’s electoral law, a candidate must score 45% of the votes or 40% of the votes with a 10-point lead over the second candidate to win in the first round. Since neither Massa nor Milei achieved these conditions, they will participate in a runoff election on November 19.
Observers, especially among crypto circles, found the results somewhat unexpected, as Milei won the most votes in the primary elections, positioning him as the front-runner leading up to the polls.
