Argentine central bank flags use of cryptocurrencies to bypass currency controls

Argentina is concerned about the use of digital assets as a tool to bypass currency controls. This was stated by the head of the central bank, Miguel Ángel Pesce, according to Clarín.

According to the official, the term “cryptocurrency” is not precise. He is convinced that the accounting units do not correspond to this definition, and they themselves “relate to something hidden and opaque”.

Pesce also commented on Argentina’s Securities and Exchange Commission document. In it the central bank emphasised that digital assets are not legal tender, are highly volatile, and are subject to outages and cyberattacks.

“We must work with the public and explain the nature of such instruments, to avoid situations where someone makes money at the expense of others on the basis of misinformation”, the head of the regulator explained.

He noted that currencies must have a stable exchange rate, something not observed in digital assets.

In December 2020, Argentina’s authorities introduced a ban on purchases of foreign currency above $200 per month. Buyers are also charged a 65% tax on the amount purchased. Since September 2019, Argentine exporters are obliged to sell their foreign-exchange proceeds through the central bank’s official channels. To bypass these restrictions, many people use cryptocurrencies.

Pesce said that the digital assets received by exporters should be treated as dollarised payments that need to be converted into Argentine pesos.

“The central bank will ensure that this type of instrument is not used to circumvent currency rules”, he emphasised.

Since the start of the year, the Argentine peso has fallen by 16.35% against the U.S. dollar.

In May, Argentina’s Federal Administration of Public Revenues ordered cryptocurrency exchanges to report user transaction data monthly.

Earlier, the number of searches for the word ‘bitcoin’ in Argentina doubled the 2017 bull-market record.

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