What is Argentum, the new currency that seeks to replace the Argentine peso and remove three zeros?

Representative Ricardo López Murphy introduced a bill in Congress to change the Argentine peso and remove three zeros. His proposal is to introduce a new monetary unit called the " Argentum ," and specifies that he seeks to denote one hundredth of a cent as a centavo, which would mean that $1,000 today would be one Argentum.

In this regard, the representative stated in the bill's rationale that "eliminating zeros does not change the currency's purchasing power nor does it imply a profound economic reform, but it does organize, simplify, and clarify transactions and accounting records."

If this initiative is approved, the currency would go into circulation on January 1, 2026, the same date the Argentine peso would cease to exist. However, the beginning of next year would not mean the immediate expiration of the peso, as the bill also contemplates that current banknotes and coins could continue to be used during the first six months of the new calendar year.

If the initiative is approved, it stipulates that, starting the first day of next year, financial institutions must convert their bank balances from pesos to Argentum . The same applies to the processing of payment orders, checks, and obligations to provide sums of money, including the salaries of employees and pension benefits.

In this regard, the bill emphasizes that all of this "will not entail any modification of the agreements between the parties, except for those relating to the currency of payment, provided that these have been established in pesos." Furthermore, López Murphy indicates that the currency focuses on eliminating zeros and costs to facilitate daily operations.

In this regard, it is argued that "the daily use of figures with multiples of thousands or millions to express prices, salaries, budgets and commercial operations unnecessarily complicates transactions , accounting records, computer systems and public communication."

Furthermore, the representative indicated in the bill, already before Congress, that it represents savings in both the printing of banknotes and the digital aspect, thus aligning with the demands of Javier Milei's government. This currency change has already occurred on other occasions, such as in 1983, when four zeros were removed from the currency, which became known as the "Argentine peso."

In turn, in 1985 the Austral was introduced, eliminating three zeros, and then the Argentine peso reappeared, eliminating another four zeros from the currency in 1991, which is the currency that remains in use in Argentina to this day.