At the Pulso 2026 payments summit, Argentine central bank regulatory official Juan Curutchet said:
"It won’t happen this year. I think it’s an issue that could be discussed during Milei’s second term."
He was talking about allowing crypto to connect with the banking and payments systems.
The ban introduced in 2022 remains in effect: regulated financial institutions in Argentina still cannot provide customers with crypto-asset-related services, either directly or indirectly. The reason given is that Argentina’s current economic fragility makes it too risky to move forward in this direction.
The answer is interesting because it comes from a country in a unique position:
Argentina has 10 million active crypto wallet users, ranking 15th globally for grassroots crypto adoption.
From 2022 to 2025, crypto transaction volume on-chain in Argentina reached $93.9 billion, making it the second-largest market in Latin America.
That’s not because Argentines are especially passionate about blockchain—it’s because their peso is constantly losing value to inflation, capital controls are strict, and trust in the banking system is low. Crypto is a tool for self-preservation, not a speculative toy.
So while the authorities say “the ban remains in effect,” people have been using crypto for a long time.
There’s another interesting angle: even as the ban remains in place, several Argentine banking groups are quietly moving forward with institutional stablecoin projects through separate legal entities—for programmable money, treasury management, on-chain triggered payments, and collateralized lending.
If you can’t go through the front door, find another way in.
The gap between regulation and the market is especially clear in Argentina this time. The ban isn’t in place because there’s no demand, but because “the country isn’t ready yet”—a bit like China’s approach of “banning retail activity while building infrastructure,” just at a different stage.
Milei’s second term won’t begin until after the next election, so the earliest this could happen is around 2028. Until then, crypto users in Argentina will have to keep finding their own way.
What do you think about the conflict between regulatory bans and actual market adoption?
$BTC
#阿根廷央行不推加密入银行支付
"It won’t happen this year. I think it’s an issue that could be discussed during Milei’s second term."
He was talking about allowing crypto to connect with the banking and payments systems.
The ban introduced in 2022 remains in effect: regulated financial institutions in Argentina still cannot provide customers with crypto-asset-related services, either directly or indirectly. The reason given is that Argentina’s current economic fragility makes it too risky to move forward in this direction.
The answer is interesting because it comes from a country in a unique position:
Argentina has 10 million active crypto wallet users, ranking 15th globally for grassroots crypto adoption.
From 2022 to 2025, crypto transaction volume on-chain in Argentina reached $93.9 billion, making it the second-largest market in Latin America.
That’s not because Argentines are especially passionate about blockchain—it’s because their peso is constantly losing value to inflation, capital controls are strict, and trust in the banking system is low. Crypto is a tool for self-preservation, not a speculative toy.
So while the authorities say “the ban remains in effect,” people have been using crypto for a long time.
There’s another interesting angle: even as the ban remains in place, several Argentine banking groups are quietly moving forward with institutional stablecoin projects through separate legal entities—for programmable money, treasury management, on-chain triggered payments, and collateralized lending.
If you can’t go through the front door, find another way in.
The gap between regulation and the market is especially clear in Argentina this time. The ban isn’t in place because there’s no demand, but because “the country isn’t ready yet”—a bit like China’s approach of “banning retail activity while building infrastructure,” just at a different stage.
Milei’s second term won’t begin until after the next election, so the earliest this could happen is around 2028. Until then, crypto users in Argentina will have to keep finding their own way.
What do you think about the conflict between regulatory bans and actual market adoption?
$BTC
#阿根廷央行不推加密入银行支付