Stablecoin Trading Surges in Argentina as Peso Weakens Before Oct. 26 Vote

Overview

• Local exchanges report sharp volume jumps, with Ripio’s stablecoin-to-peso trades up about 40% and Lemon Cash and Belo seeing transactions more than 50% above average.
• Traders use the “rulo” by moving dollars into USDT or USDC and back into pesos on parallel markets, capturing up to 4% per transaction as the unofficial rate trails the official by roughly 7%.
• The peso has slipped more than 4% against the dollar since early October, according to Google Finance data.
• Policymakers have intervened by selling dollars for multiple sessions, including roughly $1.3 billion in one week, and earlier this month secured a $20 billion swap with the United States.
• Industry voices say permissive crypto rules are enabling these strategies, though frequent trades can face taxes of up to 15% and potential banking scrutiny.