The central bank of Argentina (BCRA) has put the kibosh on financial institutions offering crypto trading only days after two of the country’s largest banks signaled they were opening up to digital assets. On Thursday, the BCRA said the move was to mitigate the risks crypto poses to users and “to the financial system as a whole,” citing crypto’s high volatility, use in money laundering and absence of regulatory safeguards. The news came hot on the heels of an announcement on Monday from two of the country’s largest banks, Banco Galicia and Brubank, that they would allow their customers to purchase Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), USD Coin (USDC) and Ripple (XRP). The decision to open crypto trading was decided by a poll conducted by Banco Galicia, where 60% of respondents said they wanted easie...
Argentina’s largest and second-largest private banks, Banco Galicia and Brubank, have announced that they will allow customers to make crypto purchases. Bloomberg reported on May 2 that a resounding 60% of respondents to an Argentinian poll asked for more access to crypto, which catalyzed the banks’ decisions to begin allowing crypto trading. Affiliate at market research firm Americas Market Intelligence, Ignacio Carballo, tweeted confirmation on May 3 with screenshots of Banco Galicia’s online interface that it had begun supporting Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), USD Coin (USDC), and Ripple (XRP) purchases. .#IMPORTANTE: El Banco Galicia incorpora función de comprar #criptomonedas! Se transforma así en el PRIMER BANCO DE ARGENTINA en ofrecer el servicio #critpo. Impresionante paso de la Banca...