This story is from May 10, 2022

The Central Bank of Argentina prohibits private banks from offering cryptocurrency services to customers

The Central Bank of Argentina prohibits private banks from offering cryptocurrency services to customers
The Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) officially announced on its website on May 5 its decision to prohibit private banks from offering cryptocurrency services to customers in the country. The decision has been taken by the Board of Directors of the BCRA to stem the risks arising from operations with these crypto assets. These risks could harm the financial services users and the country's financial system on the whole.
BCRA cited the following risks associated with the crypto services being provided by the private banks:
- These types of crypto operations could lead to high volatility, give rise to the dangers of operational disruptions and cyberattacks.

- Other risks include money laundering, financing of terrorism and potential non-compliance with exchange regulations, in the the absence of safeguards, complete information that current regulations provide for users of financial services and the cross-border nature of operations.
The bank notified these details in the official document :
- The financial entities including private banks that are not regulated by government and authorized by BCRA would not be able to conduct or facilitate their customers in doing businesses with digital assets, including crypto assets.
These include operations whose yields are determined based on the variations that they register.
- Among the various players involved in the crypto operations in Argentina, there could be many which are not established in the country, and are not abiding the general regulations and these will also be disallowed to provide services.

- The bank defined crypto assets as a digital representation of value or rights that are transferred and stored electronically using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) or any other similar technology.
In recent times, two Argentinian banks have started offering crypto investment services to their clients. Banco Galicia, one of the biggest private banks of Argentina became the first bank to introduce cryptocurrency trading as a part of its services offered to the customers. The central government approved, digital-financial institution, Brubank also followed the suit and started offering cryptocurrency purchase services in its app.
For the latest crypto news and investment tips, follow our Cryptocurrency page.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA