RegulationStablecoin
|4 min ReadStablecoins Become a Lifeline as Argentina’s Peso Slides
Maya Chen
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
Arbitrage surges as controls tighten
Ruben López does what many in Buenos Aires now do. He buys dollars at the official rate, flips them into stablecoins, then sells those coins for pesos at the parallel rate. Traders call it rulo. It is fast. It is simple. With the gap between the official and the parallel markets around 7 percent, each loop can deliver up to 4 percent profit.
The government tightened foreign-exchange controls to shore up the peso before the vote. Dollar reserves are draining. Even with strong support from the United States, investors expect another devaluation after ballots are counted. People on the ground are not waiting. They are moving.
A new rule bars people from reselling dollars within 90 days. The market adapted in hours. Stablecoins became the bridge. Ripio said stablecoin to peso trades jumped 40 percent in a single week as users exploited price swings and market openings. That is the story. Argentina changes the rulebook. Crypto finds the spread.
Exchanges report volume spikes and easy profits
Local venues confirm the rush. Lemon Cash said total crypto volumes, including buys, sells, and swaps, spiked 50 percent the day the 90-day resale ban kicked in. Belo’s chief executive Manuel Beaudroit put it plainly. The firm gives users ways to buy crypto with pesos or dollars and to sell for a gain. The rate gap makes money. Traders recently earned 3 to 4 percent per pass, he said, while warning that such returns are rare.
Bitso’s Argentina lead, Julián Colombo, called stablecoins a tool to access cheaper dollars. Crypto still sits in a regulatory gray zone. The government has not set clear rules for stablecoins or their liquidity. That vacuum helped rulo bloom.
For many, this is not speculation. It is survival. Argentina has defaulted three times this century. When Javier Milei won office he promised to end the cycle. Some gains are real. Annual inflation cooled from near 300 percent to roughly 30 percent. Yet the peso keeps sliding. Part of that came from the devaluation that launched his program. Part of it comes from election risk. People hedge what they can.
Savers flee the peso and face new risks
Nicole Connor, who leads the Crypto Women Alliance, said inflation and political uncertainty pushed her to go defensive. She keeps no savings or investments in pesos. She uses pesos only for daily expenses. She holds crypto and stablecoins, and tries to earn yield.
The rulo path is not risk-free. Stock trades are tax-exempt. Crypto profits can be taxed up to 15 percent. Banks also ask questions. Repeat large transfers trigger source-of-funds demands. Still, the flow continues. Analysts say reliance on stablecoins will deepen as the economic squeeze lingers. Across Latin America more people are using these tools to protect assets from fiscal shocks and election waves.
López expects the habit to stick. Stablecoins will stay, he said. The dollar holds a beautiful place in daily life here. It is the safe harbor when the local currency wobbles. Everybody knows it.
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