Is crypto legal in Argentina? Rules & regulation (2026)

Newly disclosed forensic call logs reportedly tie Javier Milei to promoters of the failed $LIBRA token around its launch, deepening the federal fraud investigation ("Cryptogate"). It is the largest political-crypto scandal in Argentine history.

Argentina's central bank signaled it will allow commercial banks to offer crypto trading and custody starting in 2026, reversing the May 2022 ban that barred banks from digital-asset operations.

President Milei's party secured a congressional majority in Argentina's midterm elections, reinforcing the political mandate for economic liberalization including crypto-friendly deregulation. The result accelerated the timeline for the pending BCRA bank-crypto authorization and further VASP framework development.

Crypto.com became one of the first major international exchanges to secure PSAV registration with Argentina's securities regulator, signaling formalization of the local crypto market.

Argentina's securities regulator published detailed prudential requirements for all Virtual Asset Service Providers: minimum net worth of USD 35,000-150,000 by activity category, mandatory cybersecurity standards, monthly and annual reporting obligations, and a tokenization sandbox for real-world asset innovation. Rules took effect May 26, 2025, with staggered compliance deadlines for local (August 1) and foreign entities (September 1).

The CNV approved the definitive regulation for Virtual Asset Service Providers (PSAV), setting registration, minimum net-worth (USD 35k-150k), client-asset segregation, custody, cybersecurity, AML/CFT and advertising rules, with the full regime effective Dec 31, 2025.

President Milei publicly promoted the $LIBRA token on social media; the price spiked and then collapsed over 97% within hours in what investigators described as a rug-pull, causing an estimated $251 million in investor losses. The scandal triggered congressional inquiries and a criminal investigation, exposing the risks of unregulated token promotion and becoming Argentina's first major crypto governance crisis.

President Milei promoted the $LIBRA token on X; its price spiked then crashed, causing roughly USD 251 million in investor losses and triggering a federal fraud investigation into a suspected rug pull.

Within days of Law 27,739's enactment, Argentina's National Securities Commission published implementing rules establishing the mandatory VASP registry, setting an initial registration deadline of June 3, 2024. For the first time, crypto exchanges, custodians, and other virtual-asset intermediaries were formally placed under securities-regulator supervision.

The CNV established the mandatory Registry of Virtual Asset Service Providers implementing Law 27,739 and FATF Recommendation 15; registration is an AML reporting requirement, not a CNV license.

Argentina's Congress passed and the Executive partially promulgated a landmark anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing law that formally defined virtual assets in Argentine statute, mandated VASP registration with the CNV, and designated the CNV as the national crypto regulator. This is the primary legislation underpinning Argentina's current crypto framework.

Published in the Official Gazette, the law reformed Argentina's anti-money-laundering regime (Law 25,246), defining virtual asset service providers, designating them obligated reporting subjects, and assigning the CNV to oversee their registry.

Milei won the presidential runoff pledging radical deregulation and explicit 'currency competition,' allowing prices and contracts denominated in Bitcoin or US dollars alongside pesos. His election marked a decisive shift away from the BCRA's restrictive crypto stance, setting the stage for the 2024 VASP law and eventual bank-crypto authorization.

The Central Bank extended its 2022 banking prohibition to all payment service providers (PSPs), closing the regulatory gap that fintechs had exploited after the bank ban. PSPs were prohibited from carrying out or facilitating any crypto asset operations for their clients, effectively cutting off digital-only banks and mobile-payment apps from the crypto market.

Just 48 hours after Banco Galicia and Brubank launched retail crypto trading, Argentina's Central Bank barred all regulated financial institutions from carrying out or facilitating digital-asset transactions for clients. The move was widely linked to IMF conditionality in the concurrent $45 billion debt restructuring deal and stood as the defining restriction for the following three years.

Argentina's debt restructuring agreement with the IMF contained a commitment to discourage the use of cryptocurrencies, which observers and market participants viewed as the direct political trigger for the BCRA's May 2022 ban on bank crypto services. This established the explicit link between sovereign debt management and crypto restriction in Argentine policymaking.

Argentina's Central Bank issued its first direct regulatory action touching crypto assets, requiring financial institutions and card issuers to obtain prior BCRA approval before enabling customer payments for crypto asset acquisition. This established the principle that crypto-related banking activity required central-bank sanction, laying the foundation for the stricter bans that followed.