- Argentina‘s government has presented a bill to Congress that would prohibit financial entities, payment services, and cryptocurrency providers from serving unauthorized online gambling operators.
- The legislation aims to combat gambling addiction by restricting payments, advertising, and access to betting platforms, potentially reshaping how they use financial and crypto rails.
- This follows existing enforcement, such as a court order in March requiring a nationwide block of the prediction market platform Polymarket.
- The bill expands enforcement to include banning advertising for unlicensed operators across digital media.
Argentina’s government is moving to restrict banks, payment firms, and crypto providers from serving unauthorized online gambling platforms as part of a broader crackdown on digital betting. According to an official notice from the Ministry of Health published on Tuesday, the government presented the Bill for the Prevention of Gambling and Regulation of Online Gambling to Congress.
The legislation directly ties gambling regulation to financial infrastructure, including payment systems and crypto rails. Consequently, it establishes that “financial entities, providers of payment services or virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) are prohibited from offering their services to unauthorized gambling operators,” according to the ministry’s statement.
This measure could extend compliance obligations to crypto intermediaries like exchanges and fiat on-ramps. They may be required to identify and block transfers tied to gambling-related wallets or merchant flows, affecting how users fund offshore betting platforms.
Meanwhile, the bill also expands enforcement beyond online betting to any platform facilitating unauthorized activity. Platforms promoting unlicensed operators could face penalties or be required to verify authorization status.
Local authorities have already taken action against prediction markets globally. In March, Argentina’s national communications and media regulator was instructed by a court to block access to Polymarket, following a case brought by the Buenos Aires City Lottery.
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