Argentina Central Bank Blocks Payment Apps and Services From Offering Crypto Amid Rapid Fiat Debasement: Report

Argentina’s central bank has called for its country’s payment service providers to halt allowing for crypto asset support.

In a new announcement, the Banco Central De La Republica Argentina (BCRA) says that payment service providers are barred from conducting transactions involving crypto.

“Payment service providers that offer payment accounts may not carry out or facilitate operations with digital assets, including crypto assets, that are not regulated by the competent national authority and authorized by the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic.”

The move from Argentina’s central bank to block payment apps from offering crypto services comes as the country’s currency continues to witness rapid debasement.

The Argentinan peso is currently down over 98% from its all time high against the US dollar, according to the government approved exchange rate. However, the black market exchange rate that Argentinians use is reportedly almost twice as weak as the official rate that the government recognizes.

Bitcoin (BTC) is currently at all-time highs when priced in the Argentinian peso.

The central bank says that with the ban, it aims to minimize the risks associated with the use of cryptocurrency for its citizens.

“The measure ordered by the BCRA seeks to mitigate the risks that operations with these assets could generate for users of financial services and the national payment system. This standard equates the rules that PSPCPs (payment service providers that offer payment accounts) and financial institutions must comply with. The latter already have a restriction of the same tenor since May 2022, disseminated through Communication A 7506 .”

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Featured Image: Shutterstock/SvetaZi/Natalia Siiatovskaia