Argentine Banks Build Peso Stablecoins for Corporates, Bypassing Central Bank Ban

Argentina’s peso stablecoin scene is taking shape as two banking groups push forward institutional-focused projects — and they’re doing it from the sidelines of the country’s regulated banks. What’s happening Two financial holding groups with banking operations are developing Argentine peso–pegged stablecoins through their virtual-asset subsidiaries, targeting corporate treasuries and programmable payments rather than retail users, Iproup reports. The moves keep the initiatives outside Argentina’s banks because the Central Bank has barred private banks from offering crypto services since May 2022. The players - BIND Group — which owns BIND Banco Industrial and manages more than $2 billion in assets — is building a peso-backed token through its virtual-asset service provider BEN. Earlier this year BEN teamed up with Circle to give institutional clients access to USDC for treasury and payments use cases under local rules. - Petersen Group is preparing a peso stablecoin called DIPE through a subsidiary, with technical support from crypto infrastructure provider Lirium. DIPE already has a whitepaper, suggesting the project has moved beyond ideation. What the tokens aim to do Both projects are designed for institutional use cases: programmable payment conditions, automated transactions triggered by on-chain events, collateral management and collateral-backed lending arrangements, and streamlined treasury settlement on blockchain rails. These are aimed at corporates and financial operations rather than consumer remittances or retail payments. Why they’re different Argentina has long seen US dollar–pegged stablecoins such as USDT and USDC used by individuals and businesses to hedge against peso depreciation. By contrast, these initiatives seek to digitize the peso itself for enterprise financial infrastructure — and to do so through licensed virtual asset subsidiaries so they’re not directly constrained by the central bank’s ban on banks offering crypto services. Regulatory backdrop and risks Regulators are watching. Argentina’s national securities regulator raised concerns in March about an earlier peso-linked project — the “argt” stablecoin — saying it may constitute a security being offered without proper compliance. Authorities are reportedly discussing whether to relax the current ban on banks providing digital-asset services, but no formal policy changes have been announced. If bank-led ownership of stablecoins becomes permissible, that could expand adoption for banking-backed tokens. Not the first peso token This isn’t Argentina’s first experiment with tokenizing the peso. In December 2022, the province of San Luis passed legislation authorizing a provincial stablecoin (Activo Digital San Luis de Ahorro, aka CityCoin) backed by government liquid assets to support blockchain-based public services and administrative efficiency. The San Luis project is a public-sector, resident-focused effort, while the new initiatives are private-sector and enterprise-oriented. Regional and market context The projects arrive as stablecoin activity climbs in Latin America’s banking ecosystem. Tether recently invested $20 million in Argentine digital bank Ualá as part of a $197 million round and has backed other regional players, while Brazil’s Mercado Bitcoin and Argentina’s Belo have also received support. Internationally, the Bank of the Philippine Islands launched a pilot using stablecoins for cross-border remittance settlement, converting settled funds into pesos within the regulated banking system. Market snapshot Despite a slight dip in supply, stablecoin usage remains robust. CoinDesk Data showed the global stablecoin market contracted 2.39% in June to roughly $312 billion — the first monthly decline in five months — yet Visa’s adjusted dataset recorded a record $1.79 trillion in stablecoin transaction volume for June, indicating strong on-chain and institutional activity even amid a modest pullback in circulating supply. Bottom line BIND and Petersen’s peso stablecoin efforts reflect a pragmatic path for Argentine banks to enter tokenized payments: build through licensed virtual-asset arms, prioritize business-grade use cases, and position for broader adoption if the regulatory environment loosens. The projects are still private and unlaunched, but their institutional focus signals how stablecoins could be used to modernize corporate treasury and settlement in Argentina.