Argentina implements protocols to fight crypto crime

The Nation’s Security Ministry recently approved Resolution 117/2025, which sets out the steps that police and federal security forces must take to preserve digital assets during investigations. The guidelines aim to standardise the handling of these assets, ensuring they are not altered or lost during the seizure process. 

The resolution recognises that cryptocurrencies are increasingly used in schemes related to money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In this context, authorities have emphasised the need to enhance ways for tracking and analysing digital assets when criminal activity is suspected.

Implementation and enforcement measures

In the context of a rising number of cases linked to crypto fraud, the Security Ministry has introduced additional measures. In December, officials were instructed to curb practices that could be seen as unapproved financial intermediation via digital currencies, with an emphasis on early detection of potentially illicit transactions.  

Recent law enforcement actions have included a seizure related to a money laundering operation that combined phone smuggling with illegal online gambling. Specifically, according to news.bitcoin.com, in what local media called the first operation of its kind, the Argentine justice system ordered the seizure of almost USD 28,600 in stablecoins linked to a money laundering case using cryptocurrency. 

Authorities also moved to freeze 3.5 million USDT connected to a suspected Ponzi scheme. The latter case marked the first occasion on which Argentine authorities engaged directly with Tether in a criminal investigation.