> Now? The author's comment that most people use a cueva to handle the crypto for them, rather than managing it themselves, is a real-world datapoint. It means that cuevas are vulnerable to surveillance and control.

Cuevas are operated or are buddies with those in power.

Here's the thing: there is not a single rational actor in Argentinian politics who likes currency controls. It is a gigantic pain in the ass and a huge inconvenience for personal finances and so anyone who likes real money will use cuevas.

At the same time those people know that the alternative at the present moment is unlikely to be for the best; liberating the exchange rate just leads to people stashing money overseas, hyperinflationary spirals, even more difficulty servicing debt. More importantly, the various exchange rates allow for industrial protectionism where necessary (by benefitting imports of industrial inputs), populism for convenience (subsizing certain middle class consumer goods) and greater taxation of highly productive industries.

At this point the risk of walking all this back is too great for any single politican, side hustles would be lost, and the future would be even more uncertain. No one wants to pay the price.Now? The author's comment that most people use a cueva to handle the crypto for them, rather than managing it themselves, is a real-world datapoint. It means that cuevas are vulnerable to surveillance and control.

It's basically a really crappy local Nash Equilibrium.