Is crypto legal in Chile? Regulation & rules (2026)

Enacted January 2023, Law 21.521 introduced a licensing regime covering five crypto-related financial services: alternative transaction systems (exchanges), investment advice, custody, order routing, and brokerage. Crypto-assets are defined as 'digital representations of units of value, goods or services, excluding legal tender, that can be transferred, stored or exchanged digitally.'

General Rule NCG 502 (first issued 2024, revised December 2024) sets registration and authorisation requirements for CASPs, including minimum capital/collateral, client-asset segregation, governance, cybersecurity controls, business-continuity plans, and a mandatory third-party operational-capability opinion. The CMF has 30 days to process registration and up to 6 months to grant operating authorisation.

All exchanges, custodians, and related service providers were required to register in the CMF's Financial Service Providers Registry (RPSF) and obtain operating authorisation by 3 February 2025; entities failing to do so must cease accepting new business.

Circular UAF No. 62, in force from 1 June 2025, imposes AML/CFT obligations including the Travel Rule: crypto platforms must identify both sender and receiver for transactions of USD 1,000 or more and report suspicious transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit (UAF).

From August 2025, Chilean exchanges must report user transactions to the SII via mandatory information returns DJ 1963 and DJ 1964. The SII has already audited 13 crypto tax cases yielding approximately CLP 5 billion in additional assessments.

Chile has formally adhered to the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), obliging domestic exchanges to implement automatic exchange of tax information on crypto transactions with treaty partners starting in 2027.