Argentina’s Central Bank To Block Crypto Offerings From Banks

Argentina’s central bank will block crypto offerings from Banks while only four days passed since two of the biggest banks in the country opened up to crypto trading so let’s read more today in our latest cryptocurrency news.

The Central Bank of Argentina has put the kibosh on financial institutions offering crypto trading days after two of the biggest banks said they will open up to digital assets. The BCRA said the move was to mitigate the risks that crypto poses to users and to the financial system due to the crypto’s high volatility, its use in money laundering, and the absence of regulatory safeguards. The news came in hot after the announcement from the two banks, Banco Galicia and Burbank they will allow their customers to buy BTC, ETH, USD coin, and Ripple.

The decision to open crypto tradign was decided by the poll conducted y the Banco Galicia where 60% of the respondents said they want easier access to digital currencies. The Central Bank has taken a dim view of crypto issuing the alert to the public and warned once again of the concerns around the volatility and money laundering despite the bank saying they are no signs of significant levels of acceptance.

According to the figures from Statista, 21% of the respondents in Argentina owned or used crypto in 2021 which marked the sixth-highest rate of adoption in the world and the highest rate in the Americas. Argentina’s inflation increased another 6.7% which is the highest rate in 20 years to hi 55.1% year over year as per INDEC the country’s statistics agency. Some of the people in the country turned to crypto in an attempt to hedge spiking inflation. Back in April, one town even started the process of mining crypto to fight inflation.

The change in emphasis from last May can be related to the $44 billion extended debt plan from the international monetary fund which is a clause that was for the country to discourage the use of crypto. The announcement from the bank is at odds with plans from the Mayor of Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires and the mayor Horacio Rodriguez Larreta announced more plans to digitize the city with the goal to allow people to pay their taxes in crypto among other blockchain plans.