In a statement issued on May 4^th, the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) prohibited payment service providers (PSPs) from carrying out or facilitating operations with cryptocurrency assets. According to the statement, the measure ordered by BCRA “seeks to mitigate the risks that operations with these assets could generate for users of financial services and the national payment system.”

Argentina is struggling with high rates of inflation and dwindling dollar reserves. According to Forbes, Dólar Blue (the Argentine pesos’ informal dollar exchange rate) reached a 497-to-1 ratio on April 25 and inflation surpassed one hundred percent year-over-year as of March. Reuters reported on April 26 that in an effort to ease the outflow of dollars, Argentina will start to pay for Chinese imports in yuan rather than dollars.

The economic conditions in Argentina have made cryptocurrency popular and have increased its usage. An April 2022 survey conducted by Americas Market Intelligence (AMI) found that 51 percent of Argentine consumers have already purchased crypto and 27 percent buy cryptocurrencies regularly—a significant jump from the 12 percent adoption rate recorded in an AMI survey conducted at the end of 2021.

The property market in Argentina is generally priced and transacted in U.S. dollars.

Last Updated on May 9, 2023 by Ramin Seddiq