Largest Private Bank in Argentina Starts Offering Cryptocurrency Access to Its Customers

The largest private bank in Argentina, Banco Galicia, based in Buenos Aires, announced this week that it will offer its customers the option to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. At first, the bank will give access to BTC, ETH, XRP and USDC. But you can expand the options in the future.

A user posted on Twitter that the option to purchase digital assets was available at the bank. In response, Galicia confirmed the information:

Hola. Yes! We are adding new investment options. If you have any doubts, we invite you to write to us privately.

Largest private bank in Argentina, Banco Galicia gives customers access to cryptocurrencies

After confirmation, the user @pricatti published The pros and cons of the initiative:

“Cons: charges tax on debits and credits, coins cannot be transferred to another wallet, they remain in the bank. Pros: People who wanted to invest in crypto but were wary of trading outside the bank. Banks come in to compete.”

Banco Galicia’s crypto service is the result of a partnership with Lirium, a Liechtenstein-based crypto asset infrastructure provider for digital wallets and mobile banking apps.

Lirium COO Martin Kopacz told that while it is possible to buy and sell digital assets through the bank, it is not possible to send or withdraw the assets. In addition, Kopacz reported that the bank also offers an escrow feature. Banco Galicia’s objective is to make the service available to all its customers by mid-May.

Founded in 1905, Banco Galicia is considered one of the most important banks in Argentina. Currently, the financial institution has more than 4.2 million corporate and individual customers, according to its LinkedIn page.

Brubank also offer crypto investments

Another Argentine bank that is also offering cryptocurrency investment to its clients is Brubank, a fully digital and regulated bank.

In this case, Brubank offers its users access to BTC, ETH, USDC and DAI. According to the bank, the feature will be available to all users gradually.

“Yes, we already have cryptocurrencies! It is a feature that is being progressively enabled for all our users. When you enable it, you can view it by entering ‘Investments’ in the app,” the bank posted on Twitter.

Argentina advances in the crypto market

The adhesion of banks to crypto-assets shows that Argentina, in general, has been advancing in the use of cryptocurrencies.

In the last week, the mayor of the capital Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, announced a series of digital initiatives for the city.

Among other things, he wants to allow taxes to be paid in cryptocurrencies such as BTC . In addition, Horacio wants to leverage the use of blockchain technology to protect documents and personal information.

“We will work on paying taxes, which is the ninth measure of our plan. Together with the main companies, we are working so that anyone who wants to be able to pay their taxes with cryptocurrencies.”