Learn English – What’s the etymology of “Blue dollar”

etymology

In the context of currency exchange in Argentina, what's the etymology of "Blue dollar" exchange rates?

The US dollar isn't blue (it's green) and apart from "blue movies", I haven't heard of "blue" being used to mean illicit – usually it's black, or grey for less illicit.

Best Answer

From Spanish Wikipedia - Dólar blue:

Según algunos periódicos, el adjetivo blue se debe a que las transacciones que se realizan con este billete provienen del mercado negro, por fuera de la regulación establecida por la AFIP y en inglés el color azul también es utilizado para hablar de algo oscuro.

Translation: According to some newspapers , the adjective "blue" is because transactions done with these bank notes are done on the black market to skirt the regulations established by the AFIP and, in English, blue color is also used to talk about something dark.