The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) announced that it aims to reduce the financial risks that digital asset transactions can create.
Payment service providers (PSPCPs) registered in Argentina are “prohibited from performing digital asset transactions or facilitating transactions for their customers.”
National and foreign payment applications such as Nubank and PicPay will no longer be able to offer cryptocurrencies to customers in Argentina.
The regulator prohibits PSPCPs from performing such transactions themselves, initiating them on their mobile apps and offering them on web platforms.
And requires virtual buttons that automate the process of user purchase of digital assets to be removed from the apps’ interface.
Instead, BCRA offers users interested in investing to do the transactions themselves.
The regulator’s policy change won’t just affect PSPCP providers. Indirectly it will affect trading platforms, online stores and retailers that will not be able to accept payment for crypto assets.
The BCRA said the ban is a necessary security measure to limit the penetration of digital assets in the country’s economy and protect investors from financial risk.
Earlier, Argentina’s National Commission of Values (CNV) approved a Bitcoin futures index as part of a strategic innovation program. The index will be the first of its kind in Latin America.