The Argentine Senate will vote on a letter of intent signed earlier this month between the country and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which contains a provision prohibiting the usage of cryptocurrencies.
The arrangement would modify a $45 billion loan the government received in 2018.
The cryptocurrency clause is included in a Technical Memorandum of Understanding (TMU) agreed on March 3 by Argentina and the IMF.
The deal was already accepted by the Chamber of Deputies, the lower chamber of the Argentine National Congress, on March 11, and was expected to be considered by the Senate late Thursday for final approval.
The clause, headlined “Strengthening financial resilience,” states, “To further safeguard financial stability, we are taking important steps to discourage the use of cryptocurrencies in order to prevent money laundering, informality, and disintermediation.”
The letter of intent further states that “strong bank oversight will continue, especially following the unwinding of pandemic-related regulatory forbearance,” and that “commercial banks remain liquid and well-capitalized.”
According to the statement of intent, Argentina intends to continue its payment digitization process “to improve the efficiency and costs of payments systems and cash management.”
The Latin American country, which saw 52.3% year-on-year inflation in February, has emerged as one of the region’s main crypto centers. Purchases of stablecoins soared sixfold in 2020, according to data from local exchanges.
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