Comment by throwaway2037

High level, yes, I agree that line of credits are different from currency swaps. However, in this case, when Argentina activates the currency swap, they are essentially sending toilet paper (nearly useless currency) to the US Federal Reserve and receiving something very valuable (US dollars). The Argentinan currency does not truly float (they have bizarre official exchange rules), so if the toilet flushes, the US Federal Reserve isn't left with anything useful. In the past (according to a brief Google search), the Central Bank of Korea had a currency swap agreement with the US Federal Reserve (or is it the US Treasury? I always forget those details). In this case, the Korean Won has real international value, so it is much less like a line of credit.