Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: The government of Argentina seeks to regulate the crypto industry with an executive order, Bitget announces expansion in Latam, and Honduras reiterates its private bank crypto ban.
Latam Insights: Argentina to Regulate Crypto via Decree, Bitget Eyes Latam Expansion
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Argentina to Issue Crypto Exchange Regulation via Decree
The government of Argentina is putting its sights on regulating cryptocurrency service providers by an executive order. According to reports from local media, President Javier Milei is preparing to issue an emergency decree to create a framework that would regulate the operation of these, bringing them under the oversight of the national securities watchdog (CNV).
Milei would be focused on keeping Argentina out of the gray list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which the country was included in from 2010 to 2014 due to its lax money laundering policies. The upcoming visit of the FATF, meant to assess the country’s money laundering countermeasure, would be fueling this measure.
Under the new decree, all cryptocurrency service providers would have to register with the national securities watchdog and operate under a license that would be provided by the organization even if they are not based in Argentina. Also, these would have to provide information to the national intelligence unit to comply with anti-money laundering laws, forcing cryptocurrency services lenders to produce risk reports and report suspicious movements.
Crypto Exchange Bitget Announces Latam Expansion
Bitget, a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange, is preparing to expand its influence and operations in Latam. The company, part of the top 15 largest cryptocurrency exchanges, will focus on expanding in the region by targeting beginners in the field, offering tools that ease the handling of portfolios and investments for the less crypto-savvy.
Maximiliano Hinz, growth lead of Bitget for Latam, believes that copy-trading, a feature that allows users to mimic the trading movements of more seasoned investors using a part of their portfolio, can be the key to this plan. Bitget plans to double its employee headcount in Latam from 80 to 160 in the next two years.
Honduras Reiterates Crypto Ban
The National Banking and Insurance Commission of Honduras has reiterated the decision to ban financial institutions from dealing with cryptocurrency assets and clarified the reach of the measures announced last week. The institution stated that bitcoin was “unregulated electronic money,” warning that it was born out of a network without restriction or borders.
Also, the commission ratified that these institutions would not be allowed to serve as intermediates to perform operations with cryptocurrencies or to hold crypto as part of their treasury or even instruments whose value depends on the performance of these assets.
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