Argentina leads cryptocurrency adoption in the region and since this year it could be one of the first countries to include regulation for the purchase, ownership and taxation of these digital currencies. In a few days, the country will receive one from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that will put a magnifying glass on the cryptoasset sector.
This is why the sector and the government are working against time so that a new regulatory framework, which also includes tax aspects, comes to light. Until now, Argentina’s nascent cryptoasset regulation is dispersed in regulations issued by different powers and authorities, depending on their powers, so It’s in a gray area.
On the one hand, organizations such as the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) or the National Securities Commission have taken a position on what a “virtual currency” is and the “risks” associated with operating with these assets and have also regulated financial instruments . associated with the emergence and proliferation of blockchain technology, cryptographic technologies and digital assets. For another, The Central Bank has prohibited banks and digital wallets from facilitating the purchase of these cryptoassets based on the alleged risks associated.
The country must do it now accelerate the process of creating an anti-money laundering regulatory framework successfully pass the fourth FATF review, which focuses narrowly on the management of cryptoassets.
“The CNV is analyzing whether there should be regulation regarding cryptocurrencies. However, if the law or the DNU comes out amending the money laundering prevention rules and putting the CNV in charge of the register of digital asset service providers, there will be a number of rules linked to the text that emerges”, sources from the organization explain to this newspaper.
Some companies operating in the country already comply with international standards for the prevention of money laundering and they self-regulated with good practices. For example, the Lemon platform which has been offering a reserve and solvency test for more than a year to verify all your assets in custody in real time.
Furthermore, companies in the sector, together with the Argentine Fintech Chamber, have started to promote a new tax framework which, among other things, includes the personal property tax exemption for cryptocurrencies, the elimination of the non-taxable minimum for cryptocurrency earnings, and the elimination of taxes associated with cryptocurrency transactions.
Outside of the tax space, the Chamber of Business is working to promote the tokenization of real assets, from soybeans to property, and their trading on stock exchanges. This way, small investors could access new markets, acquiring fractions of the tokenized asset which, in turn, will acquire greater liquidity.
According to the Fintech Chamber, the main aspect necessary to achieve its massification consists of advance regulation in phases. For this, they suggest starting with regulatory sandboxes first and then adopting underlying administrative and legal reforms that provide a framework of legal certainty for bidders and investors.
“The fundamental principles of the cryptocurrency industry and Web 3, such as decentralization and freedom, should not be overlooked in the construction of the law. This it is necessary to protect the interests of the end user and the companies that create and bring value to Argentina and the world. With this objective, several sector actors have participated in working groups with public sector actors”, they indicated on Lemon.
Source: Clarin
