After learning that the first phase of the cryptocurrency laundering process, implemented in Argentina since last July, will be extended until October 31, representatives of cryptocurrency exchanges are presenting their first balance sheets.
In statements to local media, platforms such as Bitso and Lemon offered some statistics, ensuring that money laundering has exceeded their expectations. They thus indicate how the interest of cryptocurrency holders in the South American country in disclosing their holdings was reflected in a record increase in deposits in digital currencies.
Regarding this, the Public Affairs leader of Bitso Argentina, Carlos Peralta, pointed out that Even in these last days before the announcement of the extensionthere were many queries; “Maybe now with more time they decide to enter.”
A similar observation was made by Juan Pablo Fridenberg, director of Public Affairs at Lemon, indicating that September was the month with the highest volume of deposits of cryptocurrencies in the history of the platform. “Although we do not know how many users actually joined, because it is information that only the Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP) has, we can affirm that we exceeded the July volume by 23%.”
In this way, the data handled in Lemon indicates that80% of deposits are being made in stablecoinssuch as USDC or USDT. Meanwhile, deposits in bitcoin (BTC) represent 10% of the total, 2.6 times more than what is deposited on average during a year.
The same idea was raised by the National Securities Commission (CNV), although They refused to give figures on money laundering. In fact, in one of the applications used for the process they reported queries equivalent to USD 1.5 million, with transactions ranging from 30,000 to 200,000 dollars.
These are very positive results, considering the doubts that were had about the possibilities that bitcoiners would agree to launder their assets. This, because it implies the renunciation of self-custody. However, the willingness of many Argentines to do so has been very clear in recent months.
«Cryptocurrency laundering brought us more inquiries than we would have expected. It was thought that cryptocurrency users would not want to formalize their holdings, since they had precisely chosen cryptocurrencies to be ‘under the radar’. However, we see a lot of interest,” declared Julián Colombo, CEO of Bitso Argentina.
As CriptoNoticias reported, at the beginning of September, most exchanges announced that everything was going normally, observing a good flow of people participating and a significant increase in queries. This led to many platforms to publish tutorials to explain in detail the steps to follow and clarify doubts.
In that sense, the exchanges expect that there will be a peak for the coming weeks, as October 31 approaches, the closing date of this first phase in which 5% tax applies for laundering amounts exceeding USD 100,000.
The situation will be different in the second phase of laundering, which will run from November 1 to January 31, 2025, when a 10% rate will have to be paid. on the surplus of USD 100,000. Then until April 30 of next year the tax will be 15%.
It is worth remembering that, if the cryptocurrencies were not acquired on the platform chosen for laundering, proof of ownership and valuation must be presented to AFIP certified by a notary public. It must be accompanied by the Laundering Account Summary annexed to the Affidavit of the Asset Regularization Regime.
