The Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) is analyzing the lifting of the crypto ban on banks and allowing them to provide account holders with digital asset-related services, according to the Argentine newspaper, La Nacion.
The new rules for banks could be ready as early as April 2026, La Nacion reported, citing sources close to the BCRA.
The central bank issued a law prohibiting banks from conducting or facilitating operations for their customers with cryptocurrencies, but after Javier Milei became president in 2023, the financial authorities have turned towards a more crypto-friendly stance.
The move is expected to further boost adoption in Argentina, a country that Chainalysys says is a global leader in grassroots cryptocurrency adoption, driven primarily by an economic crisis caused by triple-digit inflation, tight capital controls and a fundamental distrust of the local peso. Chainalysis noted that Argentina ranked 15th for active crypto wallet users with 10 million.
Between July 2023 and June 2024, the country was estimated to have received $91 billion in on-chain transaction volume, making it the most active crypto market in Latin America. Over 60% of this activity involved stablecoins (such as USDT), which Argentines use as a crucial mechanism to dollarize their savings and protect their purchasing power from currency devaluation, the report added.
In Latin America, Brazil has the most explicit and comprehensive laws that allow and regulate commercial banks to provide crypto services. Panama is compliant but lacks a central bank-driven framework. While El Salvador became the first country worldwide to make bitcoin legal tender nationwide in 2021, El Salvador only recently (August 2025) rolled out a new banking law for private banks that exclusively offer digital asset services to high-net-worth investors.
UPDATE (December 8, 15:35 UTC): Removes the description of La Nacion as “conservative”.
