Argentina is rapidly growing its crypto economy in terms of adoption and usage, but Coinbase has taken a step back.
Coinbase has reportedly paused its crypto services in Argentina less than a year after market launch.
According to Forbes Argentina, in a statement to customers on December 31, 2025, the global crypto exchange informed Argentinians that its services will be temporarily unavailable from January 31, 2026 following a review of its local operations.
This means Argentine Coinbase users will be unable to buy or sell USDC with Argentine Pesos. From December 31, users have been granted a 30-day window to either buy or sell USDC with Pesos, or to withdraw them from their local bank.
A Coinbase spokesperson told Forbes this was a “deliberate pause” which enables the company to “reevaluate and strengthen” its approach in Argentina in order to “return with a more solid and sustainable product offer”.
“Argentina remains a strategically important market for crypto innovation, and we have full intention of re-entrying with an improved customer experience,” said the Coinbase spokesperson.
“Our mission to increase economic freedom by leading to the on-chain world remains intact, and Latin America continues to be a central region for that mission.”
A competitive landscape
Since President Javier Milei took office in December 2023, Argentina has quickly become one of the largest adopters of cryptocurrency volume in the world.
This has resulted in a plethora of crypto and digital asset companies launching in the country to capitalise on the growing adoption rates.
Binance became fully available to Argentinians in October 2024, with Coinbase following suit in January 2025. Other crypto exchanges to have launched in the country over the past several years include Crypto.com in March 2025 and Kraken in July 2025.
There are also a range of local Argentinian-based crypto companies which have garnered market share in Buenos Aires and wider Argentina, like Ripio, Criptódery and Ohana Digital.
Forbes Argentina noted in its release that major global crypto exchanges like Coinbase when scaling their operations in new markets have faced difficulties, whether that’s competing against local players or adapting to new regulatory requirements.
Despite temporarily pausing operations, Coinbase affirmed to Forbes Argentina that they will continue in Argentina, although the company did not reveal any specific dates on when this return would happen.
Coinbase has also been working with local companies like Ripio to support them by providing the Base blockchain network that supports its digital super app Base.
Crypto adoption continues to soar
Argentina continues to be one of the highest adopters of crypto, with new figures revealing nearly 20% of the population now owns some form of crypto-asset or other digital asset.
This equates to approximately 8.6 million Argentinians owning crypto. The Argentine Blockchain Foundation revealed the country is the number one leading Latin America country when it pertains to crypto usage.
Chainalysis also noted crypto adoption in Argentina grew by 0.8% in 2025, with its first initial growth period in 2023 coming off the back of rising inflation which saw Argentinians buy cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as a hedge against the rising valuation of the Argentine Peso.
According to price market figures from uk.investing, the Peso was as high as $Ar178 on January 2, 2023. The Peso ultimately continued to grow month by month, reaching as high as $Ar810 on January 2, 2024, followed by another increase the same year after on January 2, 2025 to $Ar1,032.
With a current price of $Ar1,484, the Central Bank of Argentina has introduced a new phase to curb the inflation of the Peso by building international reserves for its currency bank mechanism, which will adjust the floor and ceiling of the Peso according to inflation data from two months earlier.
Argentine lawmakers are also proposing new rules which would lift the ban on banks being able to hold crypto.
The Central Bank of Argentina and its officials have been reportedly discussing the repeal, according to La Nacion. This would see traditional lenders handle cryptocurrencies and other digital assets to create more open trading of crypto and digital assets.
Furthermore, some unnamed Argentine crypto exchanges have already been contacted to work with banks to create a draft framework to support the integration of crypto trading.
The measure could be approved in April 2026, according to crypto exchanges in Argentina.
