Two Argentine financial groups with banking ties are close to launching stablecoin products denominated in the Argentine peso. Unlike crypto payments aimed at retail users, these products primarily target corporate treasury management, focusing on programmable payments, collateral management, and on-chain settlement.

The project is being promoted by a subsidiary.

According to Iproup, the projects are not issued directly by the banks themselves, but rather through their respective virtual asset subsidiaries. This is related to current regulations in Argentina. Since May 2022, the Central Bank of Argentina has prohibited private banks from directly providing crypto-related services.

BIND Group is developing a peso stablecoin through its virtual asset service provider, BEN. The report mentions that BIND Group manages over $2 billion in assets and owns BIND Banco Industrial. BEN has previously partnered with Circle to provide USDC to institutional clients for treasury management and payment scenarios within Argentina's existing regulatory framework.

Another initiative comes from the Petersen Group. The group is advancing a stablecoin project called DIPE through its subsidiary, with technical support from crypto infrastructure provider Lirium. DIPE has released a white paper, indicating that the project has moved beyond the initial planning stages.

Focus on corporate financial settlement

Neither product has been publicly launched yet, but their positioning is quite clear: serving businesses rather than ordinary consumers. Reports indicate that these digital peso tools will be used for programmable payments, collateral management, and corporate treasury settlements.

• Payments are automatically triggered based on on-chain conditions.
• Support for collateral-related financing arrangements
• Improve corporate financial settlement efficiency

If businesses write their payment terms onto the blockchain, some transfer and clearing processes can be automated. This means that stablecoins here are more like corporate settlement tools than retail payment products.

Regulation and regional competition go hand in hand

Because the project is being driven by a licensed virtual asset subsidiary, rather than providing services directly to banks, it is currently considered outside the direct scope of the central bank's restrictions on banks' crypto businesses. The report also states that Argentine regulators are assessing whether to relax existing restrictions, but have not yet announced any formal policy changes.

However, the peso stablecoin is not without regulatory pressure in Argentina. In March of this year, Argentina's National Securities Regulatory Authority raised questions about the Argit Peso stablecoin, stating that it might be a security product not issued in accordance with applicable rules.

These two Argentine projects come against the backdrop of the continued expansion of stablecoin adoption in Latin America. The report states that Tether invested $20 million in Argentine digital bank Ualá earlier this month, participating in its $197 million funding round. Previously, Tether had also invested in Brazilian exchange Mercado Bitcoin and Argentine crypto platform Belo.

Additional information:According to CoinDesk Data, the global stablecoin market declined by 2.39% month-on-month in June, to approximately $312 billion; however, Visa's Allium-based dashboard shows that adjusted stablecoin trading volume rose to $1.79 trillion in the same period, setting a new record.