Argentina finalizes rules for virtual asset providers
Argentina’s securities regulator has finalized rules for virtual asset service providers (VASPs), which cover general codes of conduct and custody requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges and other platforms facilitating digital asset transactions.
The regulations were published on March 13 by the National Securities Commission, also known as CNV, under General Resolution No. 1058.
According to a translated version of the announcement, the regulations impose “obligations regarding registration, cybersecurity, asset custody, money laundering prevention, and risk disclosure” on VASPs operating in the country.
The stated goal of the rules is to guarantee “transparency, stability, and user protection in the crypto ecosystem,” the announcement said.
Argentine tax lawyer Diego Fraga said the final guidelines include mandatory separation of company and client funds, annual audits and monthly reporting with the CNV.
Source: Diego Fraga
Since 2024, VASPs operating in Argentina have been required to register with the registry of virtual asset service providers, also known as PSAV. According to the new rules, registrations may be revoked for noncompliance, and any company operating without registration may be blocked by court order.
Individuals who are registered with the PSAV have until July 1 to conform to the new rules. Companies incorporated in Argentina have until Aug. 1, and those incorporated abroad have until Sept. 1.
“Those who do not comply with the established requirements and deadlines will not be able to operate in Argentina,” said Roberto E. Silva, the CNV’s president.
Related: Argentina’s crypto adoption hopes dim after Milei’s LIBRA memecoin scandal
Despite LIBRA scandal, crypto adoption rising in Argentina
As global law firm DLA Piper explained, Argentina’s push for clearer crypto regulations intensified one year ago after the CNV implemented registration requirements and said crypto issuers would be subject to securities laws.
The regulatory pivot came amid a growing wave of crypto adoption in the country, which was partly driven by the rapid depreciation of the Argentine peso.
By mid-2024, crypto adoption in Argentina had surged as locals flocked to stablecoins like Tether’s USDt (USDT).
An October Chainalysis report determined that Argentina had overtaken Brazil as the largest Latin American country for crypto inflows at roughly $91 billion between July 2023 and June 2024.
Argentina tops Latin America’s crypto adoption list in terms of value received between July 2023 and June 2024. Source: Chainalysis
Crypto adoption trends remain positive in the face of the LIBRA scandal involving President Javier Milei. As Cointelegraph reported, Milei publicly endorsed the memecoin before it suddenly plunged in value, fueling allegations of a rug pull.
Magazine: Caitlyn Jenner memecoin ‘mastermind’s’ celebrity price list leaked
The CARF regulation, which brings crypto under global tax reporting standards akin to traditional finance, marks a crucial turning point.
The nascent real-world tokenized assets track prices but do not provide investors the same legal rights as holding the underlying instruments.
Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.
MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.
Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.
Read more:
Yet another fiscal ‘black hole’? Here’s why this one matters
Success or failure: One year of Keir in nine charts
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Rachel Reeves’s fiscal dilemma
In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.
“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.
“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.
“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”
Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.
The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.
It comes after Ms Reeves said she was “totally” up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions.
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Why was the chancellor crying at PMQs?
Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.
Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”
In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.
“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”
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Reeves is ‘totally’ up for the job
Sir Keir also told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he “didn’t appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.
“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.
“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”
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