The measure is part of a set of actions to control the foreign exchange market in the country.

Recently, Argentina’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) issued a report where it announced that investigations related to cryptocurrency transactions in the country have begun.

The statement states that the institution seeks to have information about the operations that users conduct in Argentina with digital assets. Besides, the FIU will impose new controls on these operations to determine if they are part of fraudulent intentions. “To adapt the system of prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing,” that is the main objective of FIU.

The statement expressed, last May 20th, that any institution in charge of supporting these transactions should take into account the considerations that FIU takes regarding these digital assets:

“Due to the increase in transactions with virtual currencies and, in line with the general recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has alerted the Obligatory Subjects (banks, stock companies, notaries, trusts, foundations, among others) so that they dedicate themselves to tracking and analyzing the maneuvers with cryptocurrencies.”

In this way, and due to the increase in the volume of operations with crypto assets, the authorities asked these companies that operate in the country to provide detailed information on their activities.

Also, the statement warns that, by using these types of technologies, the companies could be violating international standards that go against the use of crypto assets in illegal activities such as money laundering and terrorist financing. Therefore, the use of cryptocurrencies could benefit “people who seek to circumvent international standards and avoid the preventive system of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing,” the FIU said.

According to local press reports, the document does not detail specific measures. Besides, the document has not imposed any deadline to establish ordinances and control these illegal activities. However, the FIU asked different NGOs, which receive donations in cryptocurrencies, to release information about the operations they conducted and how they did it. In this way, all the areas that involve digital currencies must adjust to the request.

Experts in economics highlight that these measures are part of the dismantling of the parallel currency market. For that reason, a complete financial adjustment accompanies these actions and seeks to avoid the flight of dollars in the Argentine financial market.

One of the measures that the Argentine government has taken is the control of the capital or control on currency exchange. This control has prevented citizens from acquiring dollars freely. Economists highlight that this could have been the trigger for the currency market to increase its operations in recent months.

Argentina has been experiencing economic difficulties for a few years now, which is why some of its citizens have taken measures to protect their finances. The hyperinflation that the Latin American country is experiencing has pushed Argentines to acquire foreign currencies instead of the local currency. However, the hard exchange control and the volatility of the parallel currency market has made Argentines find greater stability and security in cryptocurrencies.

By María Rodríguez

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